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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Scotties reach 1A semis

Michael Anderson Special to The Spokesman-Review

YAKIMA – The state title dream for the Lakeside Eagles was ended by a flurry of Granger 3-pointers at the SunDome on Thursday as the Eagles were bounced into the consolation bracket, 61-40 at the girls State 1A basketball championship.

In the night’s final game, Freeman ripped Onalaska to reach the semifinals.

Granger 61, Lakeside 40: Granger hit five straight 3-pointers beginning with its final possession of the third period, taking a 46-32 game and turning it into a 58-35 rout.

“They were on fire,” Lakeside coach Jeff Pietz said of Granger, which hit 7 of 14 3-pointers for the game. “There’s not much you can do when a girl hits a 25-footer with someone in her face.”

He was referring to Granger’s Fantasia Reyes, who hit four of the five 3s in the decisive stretch. Reyes led all scorers with 20 points.

The Eagles had cut an 11-point Granger halftime lead down to six points late in the third quarter, but the Spartans went on a 20-3 run to decide the outcome.

Lakeside (22-4) will play Okanogan in the fourth-place bracket at 2:30 p.m. today.

Freeman 60, Onalaska 37: The Scotties hammered the Loggers to get back in the semifinals for the second straight year and the first time since the 2005 squad finished second.

Freeman (24-1) will play Lynden Christian at 8 p.m.

The Scotties defense forced 21 first-half turnovers, racing to a 28-17 lead.

“We played much better than last night,” Freeman coach Ashley Taylor said. “The officials let us play tonight and that’s a good thing for us.”

Taylor singled out the reserve guard play of Katie Bauer and Emily Paukert. The pair had to step up with starters MacKenzie Taylor and Korina Baker in foul trouble and they made the most of the chance.

Coach Taylor noted that despite a morning shoot-around warning about not overlooking the Loggers, her squad appeared to do just that as the contest started.

“Once we realized that everyone here earned their way here and they can play, we started kicking a little butt.”

MacKenzie Taylor led Freeman with 19 points in 19 minutes.