East girls win two of three
East teams won two out of three games Saturday over their West counterparts during a day of one-sided Washington All-State girls basketball games at East Valley High School.
The one that got away was the 1A West team’s 81-66 victory, sparked by Bellevue Christian teammates Michelle Teng and Melissa Reich.
A deep B East squad got the day started with a 115-71 romp.
In the finale, 2A East, led by Lakeside’s Kia Gibson, rolled 89-61 past a makeshift “West” team including two Idaho standouts, Becky Lowther and Kaitie Poston from Bonners Ferry.
Gibson, Reich and Curlew’s Nichole Miller were named MVPs of their respective classification games.
Class B: The East team was too deep for its opponent in the entertaining, up-tempo opener.
Six East players finished in double figures, led by Miller’s 15 points and 13 rebounds. The team had a 74-39 rebounding advantage.
“The kids were aggressive on offense, aggressive on defense and played good team basketball,” said coach Todd Kent from State B champion La Salle. “We had great players so we were concerned about finding playing time for everybody.”
He needn’t have been. Every player scored by halftime and did so again in the second half. They never trailed, running off 13 straight points during the first half. Seven in a row came from Reardan’s Jen Christerson and eight came from the free-throw line for a 26-9 lead.
By halftime the East was up 64-33 and broke the century mark with 8:16 remaining in a game played with 20-minute collegiate halves.
“This is an awesome team,” said Miller, who added she had no clue why she was named the outstanding performer. “It’s fun because you could count on everyone to do their job.”
By contrast, Mossyrock junior Lexi Belcher carried a heavy West load. She had 25 points.
“They had a lot of reinforcements, but we should have been able to hold our weight,” Belcher said. “It was fun, though. That’s why we come over here.”
Class 1A: This game started in stark contrast to the opener. Points came grudgingly for the better part of the first half.
But the West got untracked to make a little history.
“I don’t think the West had ever won one of these things,” said Teng. “We took it to them.”
Kyla Evans of Brewster had kept the East close with 10 points before the West led by three points at intermission.
Then Teng and Reich took over. Players on a team that lost to Colfax in the State 1A final in March, Teng scored seven of her 15 points and Reich had four as the team scored the first 10 points of the second half on the way to a 56-36 lead.
“I just think we needed to get warmed up,” said Reich. “And I just picked it up a notch.”
Reich added 10 points of her 19 points in the final 10 minutes of the contest. She grabbed 10 rebounds and was central to a tough zone defense.
“We put her in the middle and she altered a lot of shots,” said West coach Tom Kelly, from White Pass.
Newport’s Maria Barranco led the East with 15 points.
Class 2A: When Gibson heard she was the game’s outstanding player following a 21-point, eight-rebound performance, she was elated.
“Oh, my gosh, you have no idea,” she said. “I am amazed I was able to play at all.”
She had hustled between three locations in town while playing in school team volleyball and basketball tournaments as well as the All-State game.
But her quickness inside proved difficult for the West, which featured one 3A player, C’Era WalkingChild from Kennedy, athletes from three 2A schools, Lowther and Poston, and a couple of double-duty additions from the 1A West squad.
By contrast, the East had a full complement of 12, eight from the Great Northern League. Everybody scored, the GNL athletes accounting for 71 points.
Gibson scored 10 first-half points in the final 9:40 as the team built a 40-21 lead.
Chewelah’s Brooke Schanzenbach added a dozen points as the East led by as many as 31.
WalkingChild saw limited action because of foul trouble but did score 14 second-half points for 16 total before fouling out. The Bonners Ferry duo, Poston and Lowther, combined for 19 points and 16 rebounds.