Little goes right for NC girls in loss

TACOMA – Holy cow, the North Central girls basketball team ran into the real deal in Holy Names Academy. The undefeated and top-ranked Holy Names Academy caught fire in the second quarter and couldn’t be reeled in as the Cougars throttled North Central 57-28 in the State 3A tournament semifinals Friday at the Tacoma Dome. NC (18-9) takes on Kamiakin (19-7) for third and fifth places Saturday morning at 11:15. NC defeated Kamiakin 45-32 in a state opener last Friday. Holy Names (28-0) goes against perennial state power Prairie (27-0) in the state final. The Indians had a 10-7 lead at the end of a defensive first quarter. But NC ultimately couldn’t overcome cold shooting. NC made just 11 of 57 shots from the field (19.3 percent). While Holy Names wasn’t burning the nets, it still made 35.7 percent (20 of 56). Even worse for the Indians was their free-throw shooting. They made an abysmal 16.7 percent (5 of 20). NC’s top two scorers, Tara Van Weerdhuizen and Riley Holsinger, were caught up in the infectious poor shooting. Weerdhuizen scored a team-high 15 points, but needed 26 shots to make seven. She also had 15 rebounds. Holsinger made just 2 of 15 attempts and 2 of 10 from the foul line for six points. She had six rebounds and four assists. NC was still within eyesight of Holy Names at halftime, trailing 23-14. But the Cougars outscored the Indians 34-14 in the second half. Another statistical category that stymied the Indians was rebounding. Holy Names outrebounded NC 56-39. Claire Conricode led Holy Names with 19 points and nine rebounds. Erika Johnson also had 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds to go with six assists. Sophie Reichelt had 15 rebounds. Just four other Indians combined to score seven points as the offense was limited.