Defending champion LC makes it back

TACOMA – All eyes were on Lyndi Seidensticker who, in the waning seconds of Friday’s State 4A girls basketball semifinal game, was faced with likely the most pressure-filled shot of her successful career at Lewis and Clark High School.

Of course, said her coach, Jim Redmon, she seems impervious to pressure.

As she did from game’s beginning, Seidensticker delivered, a 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining to break a 57-all tie and send the Tigers to their second straight state championship game appearance.

“I thought it was in, but you know, she’d missed her last three,” Redmon said. “But in her heart, she thinks everyone is going in and this one did.”

LC (25-3) completed back-to-back triumphs over previously unbeaten teams, knocking off Kentwood 60-57 Friday when Conquerors star Courtney Vandersloot missed just left on her game tying attempt.

And with it, a matchup anticipated for three years is about to become a reality. The Tigers will attempt to defend their title against University (26-2), which beat Prairie 56-47, at 7 tonight.

Seidensticker, who had shot poorly from afar for two nights, was afire in the semis. She knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points, 13 in the first half that fueled an early 14-5 lead.

“Her first quarter was incredible and got us going,” said Redmon.

In the fourth quarter, Kentwood pressure forced numerous turnovers and friendly officiating sent the Conquerors to the free-throw line 16 times in the quarter. They made 13.

Vandersloot scored 16 points in the period with two 3 pointers and was 8 of 8 from the free-throw line.

“They were able to put two players on the ball and no one has pressured us all year because they were afraid of (Brittany) Kennedy,” said Redmon. “To their credit they were able to turn us over.”

But for every minirun Kentwood made, LC had someone to answer. Ula Tauala scored a dozen second-half points, five in the final quarter, and Seidensticker hit a pair of free throws and a basket.

The Conquerors tied the game with 1:43 to go and the teams traded turnovers or free throw misses. The decider was Vandersloot’s charging foul with 31.5 seconds remaining.

It set up the Tigers for one last shot and Seidensticker made it.

Not only that, but Mead’s girls proved their mettle as well.

The Panthers (23-7) handed Roosevelt its second straight loss at the hands of a GSL team and will play for fourth place at 1:30.

Mead 71, Roosevelt 56: Jazmine Redmon goes by the nickname “Jazzy” and that aptly fits her game. With a style so smooth and stylish it belies her age, in two days Redmon’s status rose from the best freshman in the Greater Spokane League to one of the best in Washington.

“She may be a ninth grader but she doesn’t play like a freshman,” said coach Regan Drew. “She’s a huge impact player for this team. Each game she’s gotten better.”

When the time came to for someone to take charge, Redmon emerged as that person.

Several of her 18 points, which at the time was a career high, came late when attempting to stem the Conquerors’ comeback.

Against Roosevelt was more of the same. The Panthers had built a 22-point lead late in the third quarter, but were in danger of giving it back. The Roughriders closed to 58-51 when Mead hurried itself into turnovers and errant shots and seemed unable to come up with a defensive rebound.

Redmon, who finished the game with a personal and team-best 21 points, scored 10 in the fourth quarter to stem the tide.

“Our posts got into foul trouble and I felt like I needed to step it up a notch and play harder than I’d ever done before,” were the words of this poised and confident freshman.

Mead, as opposed to LC, came out in a zone defense that forced Roosevelt into a perimeter game that had produced five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter against the Tigers. It worked.

Roosevelt didn’t make a 3-pointer until 1:31 remained in the game and the long-range shooting played into Mead’s high-powered offense that has a three-day average of 68.3 points per game.