Sje Rides Schmick Into Semis

Andee Schmick’s uncle, Randy, is the mayor of Endicott. But quite frankly, if the young Schmick declared any interest anytime soon in her uncle’s job, she could probably give him a run for his money in an election.

This morning, you’d be hard pressed to find a Schmick in Whitman County more popular than Andee.

In St. John-Endicott’s 59-48 quarterfinal win over the Reardan Indians in the 19th Girls State B Basketball Tournament in the Arena Thursday night, Schmick scored 17 points and had 16 rebounds.

The Eagles will play Waterville, which overcame St. George’s 63-59 in the night’s final quarterfinal, in the 5 o’clock semifinal tonight.

Schmick inflicted the most damage against the Indians late in the game. She picked up her third foul with 6:38 to play in the third quarter and didn’t return until the final period.

“Andee’s so aggressive,” SJE coach Lorin Carlon said. “She can pick up fouls just like that.”

When she returned, however, she spelled the end of any championship hopes held by Reardan.

With SJE trailing 48-47 with a couple of minutes left in the game, Schmick scored once, twice, thrice and added a couple of free throws for good measure to give the Eagles a 55-48 lead with seconds to play.

But more than just scoring eight unanswered points, it was the way Schmick got them.

Aggressive low-post moves and buckets off offenisve rebounds, Schmick got those blue-collar, hard-hat points in the paint.

There was one possession for SJE early in the fourth quarter where the Eagles collected five offensive rebounds. Schmick, at 5-foot-8, grabbed four of them.

Before she re-entered the game, Marv Schmick, Andee’s statistician father, had a few words with his daughter.

“He said, ‘Schmick, you gotta get every board. You gotta get the team pumped up.’ I just went ahead and did the best I could,” she said.

Not to be overlooked is the SJE bench. With Schmick sitting in the third quarter, Tricia Lamb (25 points), Staci Garrett (six points, seven rebounds) and Brooke Bafus (five assists) matched Reardan basket-for-basket.

It marks the third time this season the 26-0 Eagles defeated the Indians.

“I think the kids that needed to step up in the last 5 minutes did,” Carlon said. In the final period, Lamb and Schmick scored all 19 St. John-Endicott points.

Naturally, the loss hurts the Indians because it was a state playoff game. But at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter, it seemed like a bright star was pointing in the direction of Reardan.

Reardan’s spunky point guard, Lisa Bocook, made a 45-foot buzzer-beater to end the third quarter and give the Indians a 42-40 lead.

Then early in the fourth, Janelle Krupke hit two baseline jumpers, one of which rolled on top of the backboard, appeared to hit the shot clock on the board and fell in.

“I really was getting the feeling that this was going to be our night,” Reardan coach Bryce Wilson said. “We wanted to control at least two of their big three scorers, and we did that. But you’ve just got to give credit to them. They are a tough team.”

Bocook led the Indians (18-8) with 13 points.

In the late game, Waterville hung on to beat St. George’s in a game in which the Shockers’ biggest lead was eight points.

The Dragons’ Dawn Trowbridge, who had a team-leading 22 points, hit three consecutive baskets to pull St. George’s to within 62-59. However, two late 3-point attempts fell short and rimmed out to preserve the win for the Shockers (24-1).

“They (Waterville) shot the lights out,” St. George’s coach Ross Thomas said. “We got into the kind of game we wanted, but their guards responded well to our pressure.

“Honestly, I thought it was a great game,” Thomas said. “It’s the kind of game you go to state for.”

Angie Dawson had 27 points for the Shockers, making 11 of 15 shots from the field, and Karen Gormley added 18.

The Shockers hit only 11 of 20 free throws, the Dragons 15 of 25.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo