Laura Stockton leads Gonzaga Prep past Walla Walla in 4A subregional

WALLA WALLA – Senior point guard Laura Stockton scored a game-high 28 points to lead defending State 4A girls basketball champion Gonzaga Prep to a 52-46 victory over the Walla Walla Blue Devils in a subregional game Friday night.

The Bullpups, who improved their record to 23-0 and extended their winning streak to 46 games, earned the right to move on to next weekend’s round of 16 with the triumph. Walla Walla (19-3) will host Central Valley tonight at 7 with the winner advancing to the round of 16 and the loser eliminated.

“This was a state playoff game,” Gonzaga Prep coach Mike Arte said. “I can say that with a lot of conviction.”

The Blue Devils’ Mikayla Ferenz tallied eight points in the opening quarter that helped the home team edge its way to a 13-10 lead after a first period that featured four ties and three lead changes.

Walla Walla took a pair of seven-point leads, 23-16 and 25-18, in the second quarter before G-Prep closed to within two, 27-25, at halftime.

Stockton scored all 13 of the Bullpups’ points in the second, including five in the final 1:07 of the quarter.

“Laura is an all-around player,” Arte said. “Her skill set is like no other player I’ve coached. Her leadership is amazing. She’s a chip off the old block.”

Stockton and a fellow senior, post Otiona Gildon, contributed nine and eight points, respectively, to Gonzaga Prep’s cause in the third quarter. The combined 17-point effort gave the Bullpups a 40-37 lead heading to the fourth quarter. G-Prep went scoreless in the first three-plus minutes of the final frame. As a result, the Blue Devils nosed their way in front, 41-40.

But junior wing Tayler Drynan sandwiched a pair of three-point field goals around two Stockton free throws over a 1:32 stretch that left G-Prep on the front end of a 48-41 score with 3:10 remaining.

“She’s a very good player,” Arte said of Drynan. “Every team has star players, but it’s about your role players this time of year.”

Walla Walla closed within three, 49-46, on a Ferenz 3-ball with 2:01 on the clock.

But a Gildon put-back off her own miss in the low block with 42 seconds to go provided the breathing room necessary for the Bullpups to emerge victorious.

“Give Walla Walla credit,” Arte said. “They played us better than any other team has played us this year. I wish them well (on Saturday).”