CV Awakes To Send South Kitsap Home

4A girls

The wakeup call Central Valley slept through Wednesday came through loud and clear on Thursday.

Rikki Jackson drained a 3-pointer off the opening tip and the sixth-ranked Bears went on to eliminate No. 9 South Kitsap 64-55 at the girls 4A state basketball tournament.

In CV’s opener at the Kingdome, Prairie raced to a 16-0 lead before the Bears woke up. “I don’t think we were ready yesterday,” CV senior Jenny Coyle said after scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds. “We knew we had to play hard or go home. I didn’t want to go home and take finals tomorrow. I want to stay here.”

Still, the Bears (22-5) found themselves trailing the Wolves (24-5) 53-51 midway through the fourth quarter after building a nine-point lead in the second quarter.

Coyle had 17 points in the first half as the Bears opened a 38-31 lead.

Behind 6-foot-1 Natasta Allen and 6-3 Sarah Bracken, who was playing with a torn ACL in her right knee, the Wolves battled back.

Allen, who finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, converted a three-point play to put SK up 53-51 with 4:09 to go.

Jackson then posted up inside and scored to tie the game. Jenny Wilson, who scored 12 points off the bench, hit two free throws to put the Bears up for good with 2:41 to play. Coyle followed with her fourth 3 and Jackson added two free throws.

“When the shots fall you look good,” CV coach Dale Poffenroth said. “It looks like a one-sided game, but it’s not. Those big kids were pretty good.”

The Wolves had a 50-29 rebounding edge, grabbing more off the offensive end (19) than CV did on the defensive end (16). However, the Bears forced 25 turnovers and converted those into 22 points.

Jackson finished with 12 points and six assists and Lindsey Shoquist added 10 points off the bench.

The Bears were staggering late in the third quarter when SK reeled off three quick baskets to lead 45-43 with 41 seconds left. Poffenroth called a timeout even though the quarter break was just 38 seconds away, and Shoquist promptly drilled a 3 from the right wing.

Coyle’s late 3 gave the Bears nine, which would have tied Kamiakin’s two-year old record. However, Tahoma, which set a record Wednesday with 40 attempts, made 10 of 39 in a 65-56 loss to Sehome.

CV plays Sehome (23-4) this morning at 9.

CV 64, South Kitsap 55

Central Valley 22 16 8 18 - 64

South Kitsap 16 15 16 8 - 55

CENTRAL VALLEY - Phinne 1 0-0 2, Wilson 3 5-6 12, Grafos 1 0-0 2, Jackson 3 4-4 12, Shoquist 4 0-0 10, Liepman 0 3-6 3, Coyle 8 3-3 23, Bragdon 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 15-19 64

SOUTH KITSAP - Benton 0 0-0 0, Foster 2 1-2 5, Lemalu 2 0-0 4, Boyd 2 0-0 4, Dreller 0 0-1 0, Proctor 0 0-0 0, Hopper 0 4-6 4, Allen 8 7-9 23, Sampson 2 2-4 6, Engstrom 0 0-0 0, Bracken 4 1-2 9. Totals 20 15-24 55. 3-point goals - Wilson, Jackson 2, Shoquist 2, Coyle 4. Total fouls - CV 17, SK 19. Fouled out - Boyd.

, DataTimes