Girls basketball: Lewis and Clark bounces back to win 4A regional game
Coming off one of his team’s worst games of the season, first-year Lewis and Clark girls basketball coach Gabe Medrano knew how his team would respond.
“They’ve done a great job all year bouncing back from disappointments – whether it’s performances or play in general,” Medrano said. “I knew if we played defense, we’d be in the game no matter what was happening with our shots.”
Medrano’s Tigers did what he expected as 12th-seeded Lewis and Clark shook off a 37-point thumping by No. 1-ranked Central Valley last weekend to surge past the No. 13 Glacier Peak Grizzlies 55-36 in a 4A regional game Friday at West Valley High School.
Lewis and Clark (16-8) moves on to the Tacoma Dome on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m., taking on No. 5 Woodinville (19-4), which fell 71-66 to No. 4 Moses Lake (23-0).
In her first action off the bench, freshman Emma Maxwell hit a 3-pointer to give LC a 39-23 lead with 1:47 left in the third quarter.
Maxwell followed with another 3-pointer that gave the Tigers their biggest lead at 51-30 with 5:30 remaining in the game.
It was at that point the Tigers got careless with the ball. They committed nine turnovers in the final 5 minutes.
“We started just playing slow – just kind of standing there and watching and waiting for someone else to take care of it,” Medrano said. “We had to realign them there and get them back together and settle them down a little bit. We told them, ‘We’re winning, we’re up, take care of the ball. You don’t have to throw it anywhere.’ ’’
Glacier Peak couldn’t take advantage and the Tigers gradually regained their composure.
It was apparent from the start that LC wanted to get the ball into post Anna Reeves. She scored a game-high 16 points to go with nine rebounds and three assists.
“I told her, ‘We need you to want the ball and we need you to finish.’ And she stepped up,” Medrano said.
Reeves and Jacinta Buckley teamed up well inside. Buckley finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
“They like to find each other a lot, so it was fun to see them have that opportunity tonight,” Medrano said.
Reeves knew her team would rebound after falling 59-22 to CV in the District 8 championship game.
“You have to shake it off,” Reeves said. “A loss like that, you can’t hold your head down or it goes into the next game. We just had to flush it.”
Buckley smiled talking about what the Tigers have accomplished without a senior and in Medrano’s first season.
“I’m proud of all of us and especially for him,” Buckley said. “To come to a new team and none of us know each other. The first couple weeks were rough, but look at us now. We have chemistry now and it’s a good feeling.”
3A
Mt. Spokane 52, Peninsula 48: Alyssa Powell scored 23 points with eight rebounds and the No. 14 seed Wildcats (14-10) eliminated the 11th-seeded Seahawks (21-5) and in a regional at Mt. Tahoma HS in Tacoma.
Mt. Spokane plays on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome in a state first-round elimination matchup.
Aspyn Adams added 20 points and Tia Allen grabbed 10 boards for Mt. Spokane.
2B
Colfax 62, Napavine 56: Carmen Gfeller scored 33 points with 10 rebounds and the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (20-4) defeated the No. 4 seed Tigers (21-3) in a regional at W.F. West HS in Chehalis.
Colfax plays on Thursday at 9 a.m. in a state quarterfinal. Napavine plays on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. in a state first-round elimination game.
Davenport 50, St. George’s 43: Sydney Abbott scored 11 points and the No. 2 seed Gorillas (20-4) beat the seventh-seeded Dragons (13-4) in a regional at Medical Lake HS.
Davenport plays on Thursday at 2 p.m. in a state quarterfinal. St. George’s plays Mabton on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in a state first-round elimination game.
Lydia Berquist had 13 points with 12 rebounds and four blocks for St. George’s.