Clinesmith Heroics Send Mead To State Panthers To Play Kamiakin While Ferris, Cv, Shadle Battle For Survival In Aaa Girls Regional

Stacy Clinesmith has scored more than 400 points this season, but none were more important than the two she got with 4:38 to go during the Panthers’ 56-47 win over Shadle Park in the semifinals of the Lamb Weston AAA girls’ Regional Championships Friday night at Pasco that sends Mead to state.

The 5-foot-4 junior guard hit back-to-back baskets to give the Panthers a 10-point lead. The second was a 12-footer that rolled ever so softly over the front of the rim. The ball seemed to hang for an eternity before falling to draw a sigh of relief from Mead.

“We’ve had a few of those,” Panthers coach Jeanne Helfer said. “It was about time we had one of those drop for us.”

Clinesmith finished with a career-high 31 points, 12 in the fourth quarter.

“I just thought somebody had to step up,” Clinesmith said. “The team was playing great and we really pulled together.”

Overshadowed by Clinesmith’s performance was the defense of Jodi Cory.

After Shadle’s Kelly Bartleson riddled the Panthers for 11 points in the first half, the Mead senior held her to three points in the third quarter.

“My teammates really helped,” Cory said. “They gave me a lot of support.”

That may have been the case when Bartleson had the ball, but in the third quarter, she rarely had it.

Jennifer Bennett also came up big for the Panthers, despite being diagnosed with mononucleosis before the game.

She finished with eight points and six rebounds. Holly Turner also had 10 points and three assists.

In other Lamb Weston girls’ action, Kamiakin rode Carmell Lampson’s seven fourth-quarter points to a 45-40 win over Ferris to gain a state berth while sending Ferris to the losers’ bracket. Wenatchee edged Pasco 47-46 and Central Valley turned back Walla Walla 56-50 in loser-out games.

Mead and Kamiakin play for 1-2 seeding to state at 4 p.m. today at Richland. In battles for survival at 11 a.m., CV and Shadle meet at Richland and Ferris plays Wenatchee at Pasco. Those winners meet for a third state spot at 8 tonight at Richland.

Kamiakin 45, Ferris 40

The Braves’ speed was too much for the taller Saxons.

Lampson tossed in 17 points, had four rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead the Braves. But it was the scrappy play of 5-4 guard Tracy Lorenz and 5-7 guard Meotis Erikson that proved to be the difference.

Lorenz grabbed a pair of crucial rebounds in the fourth quarter allowing Lampson a chance to knock down a 3- pointer and drive for a layup.

Meanwhile, Erikson was busy shutting down the outside shooting of Ferris’ Jayme Morrisette.

Morrisette knocked down two 3s in the first half when she scored for 10 points, but only managed three more the rest of the way.

“We were running out of gas,” Saxons coach Janet Wolkey said. “We tried to play with five players pretty much the whole game and they kept bringing in fresh ones.”

Morrisette kept the Saxons in the game in the first half, hitting a pair of 3-pointers on her way to 10 points.

“We played a zone in the first half because I thought we would need more help inside,” Braves coach Kevin Estes said. “But it was not effective. We were leaving Morrisette wide open.”

The Braves were also able to limit the Saxons’ leading scorer, Emily Ireland, to two points on 1-of-5 shooting. Ferris 11 12 8 9 - 40 Kamiakin 9 12 11 13 - 45 FERRIS Pruett 1 1-3 4, Morrisette 4 2-4 13, Brown 0 0-0 0, Ireland 1 0-0 2, Tutt 4 1-2 9, Swinton 5 2-2 12. Totals 15 6-11 40. KAMIAKIN Lorenz 1 2-4 5, Keatts 2 0-0 4, Erikson 0 4-7 4, Lampson 6 2-3 17, Willis 2 2-4 7, Williams 0 0-0 0, Cox 2 0-0 4, Shaw 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 10-18 45.3-point goals - Pruett, Morrisette 3, Lorenz, Lampson 3, Willis. Total fouls - Ferris 17, Kamiakin 13. Fouled out - None. Technical fouls - None.

Central Valley 56, Walla Walla 50 Jessica Ault came off the bench in the final minute to hit 3 of 4 free throws, including the front end of both one-and-ones, to help the Bears (12-13) avoid elimination and avenge a 53-49 loss to the Blue Devils in Spokane in December.

“We have a free-throw contest in practice and Jessica is our second leader,” Bears’ coach Dale Poffenroth said. “She might even be our first, I don’t know. I haven’t tallied up the stats from last week. We just wanted to get her into the game. We figured they would foul her. A smart coach will foul the cold player coming off the bench.”

Following a 3-point bomb from Walla Walla’s Quisha Galloway that pulled the Blue Devils to within three points with 22 seconds remaining, Ault stepped to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws to make the score 55-50.

“My legs and hands were shaking,” Ault admitted. “They still are.”

Ault did a good job of hiding her nerves as she stepped to the line once more, this time converting on the first free throw to put the game out of reach at 56-50 with 8 seconds remaining.

The Bears, who led by as many as 16 points in the second quarter, got 18 points from Carrie Sanders and 17 - eight in the fourth quarter - from Crystal Lee. Walla Walla 11 12 11 16 - 50 Central Valley 19 14 6 17 - 56 WALLA WALLA Zapata 0 0-0 0, Kropf 1 2- 3 4,Galloway 4 0-0 11, Erlebach 2 3-4 7, Watkins 2 0-0 4, Ocampo 4 0-0 8, Martin 4 3-6 11, Kress 2 1-5 5. Totals 19 9-18 50. CENTRAL VALLEY Ang. Kallas 0 0-0 0, Carpenter 2 2-2 8, Ault 0 3-4 3, Clark 1 0-1 2, MacPhee 2 1-2 5, Sanders 7 4-6 18, Lee 6 5-5 17, White 1 0-0 3. Totals 19 15-20 56. 3-pointers-Galloway 3, Carpenter 2, White. Total fouls - WW 18, CV 19. Fouled out - Lee, Sanders.

Mead 56, Shadle 47

Shadle Park 14 16 10 7 - 47 Mead 8 18 16 14 - 56 SHADLE PARK K.Miller 0 4-6 4, Pilkington 0 1-2 1, Heimbigner 4 0-0 10, Clary 1 0-0 2, T.Miller 0 0-0 0, Alexander 0 0-0 0, Bartleson 7 4-4 19, Rainer 3 0-0 6, Short 2 1-2 5. Totals 17 10-14 47.MEAD Beatty 0 0-0 0, C.Clark 0 0-0 0, Cory 2 0-0 5, Turner 4 0-0 10, Clinesmith 11 6-8 31, Benad 0 0-0 0, Roberts 0 0-0 0, J.Clark 1 0-0 2, Bennett 4 0-0 8. Totals 22 6-8 56.3-point goals - Heimbigner 2, Bartleson, Cory, Turner 2, Clinesmith 3. Total fouls - Shadle 15, Mead 15. Fouled out - None. Technical fouls - None.