Pullman into semifinals; Lakeside alive

YAKIMA – They’re not going to apologize for it, no matter how little art is involved.

Pullman’s girls came here to win games, and the Greyhounds are doing it any way they can.

To get in the semifinals, they followed the same script as the first round, shutting down the opposition and slugging their way to a 41-30 win over Naches Valley in the State 2A girls basketball quarterfinals at the SunDome.

Their Great Northern League counterparts stayed alive in the consolation bracket, as Lakeside used a late run to knock off Archbishop Murphy.

Pullman 41, Naches Valley 30: Again, it was the Greyhounds’ amorphous match-up zone befuddling opponents, as the Rangers (22-4) shot 9 of 55 (16.4 percent) from the field.

Pullman (20-4) was focused on NV’s backcourt tandem of Megan Mortimer and Monique Wickenhagen, who combined for 29 points a game in the regular season, but had 16 on 5-of-28 shooting against the Greyhounds.

“I think when a team resorts to taking literally, almost 30-footers, you know you’re doing something right,” Pullman head coach Mike Davis said.

“We’re frustrated, but there’s an awful lot of good things going on for us.”

Most of them defensively, where the Greyhounds have only allowed a team to break 50 twice in 24 games, both early in December.

Still of concern was Pullman’s offense, which continued to struggle, shooting 30 percent from the field and an unsightly 9 of 27 on free throws.

“I don’t know what’s going on, maybe we’re a little nervous,” said 6-foot-3 center Jamie Thornton, who had nine points and 11 rebounds. “We’ll work it out. I have total faith that we’re going to start hitting our shots no matter what.”

Sophomore forward Jessica Thomas provided a huge spark for Pullman off the bench. Thomas was 5 of 9 from the field for 10 points and eight rebounds, the only Greyhound to hit double digits this state tournament.

In the semifinals, the Greyhounds will meet tournament favorite, King’s (24-2) of Seattle at 5:30 p.m.

Lakeside 59, Archbishop Murphy 41: One day after a lackadaisical fourth-quarter doomed the Eagles, they finished this one on a 20-5 run to eliminate the Wildcats (19-7).

A pair of hustle statistics, offensive rebounds and turnovers, told the story in this one.

Lakeside pulled down 22 offensive boards and allowed only seven, getting six from 5-foot-10 senior Courtnee Galvin. That led to a 19-2 advantage in second-chance points.

They also forced 23 turnovers with their full-court pressure defense, with Kellie Cummings, Kelsey Stillar and Galvin each picking up three steals.

In this case, the Eagles (18-7) went to it after a bad first quarter, and responded with a 21-8 second-quarter run, capped by Galvin’s buzzer-beating rebound basket for a four-point Lakeside lead.

Kia Gibson, who scored six consecutive points in the post to help Lakeside pull away late, led all scorers with 17. Galvin had 15 and nine rebounds and Kellie Cummings and Stillar both hit three 3-pointers.

Lakeside plays today at 10:30 a.m. against Eatonville (23-3).