2B girls: St. George’s uses its height to defeat Mabton
The type of game the second first-round girls State 2B contest was going to be became apparent when St. George’s and Mabton gathered around the jump circle to start the game.
Player for player, the Dragons all stood at least a head taller than their opponents.
For the most part, St. George’s was ready for it. On defense, the Dragons were able to deny Mabton a path to the basket, and they used their height advantage to take away much of Mabton’s outside shooting Wednesday in a 45-35 victory.
The Vikings had just four field goals in the first half – and managed just two in the game’s first 13 minutes. Freshman Angela Herrera drilled a 3-pointer in the first quarter. The second came midway through the second when Astrid Galarza was finally able to find a path to the basket on a dribble drive.
On offense, however, the Dragons took some time getting settled into the Spokane Arena court and its environs.
The Mabton pressure defense forced a host of turnovers and the Dragons struggled inside against a flurry of hands that attacked every held ball.
The Vikings sagged on defense, almost daring St. George’s to shoot the ball from the outside.
Senior Ceci Bergquist knocked down back-to-back 3s early in the second quarter, ballooning a one-point lead into a 14-7 advantage, and the Dragons maintained that cushion the rest of the way.
“She’s been hitting those shots for us all year,” Rickard said. “But it wasn’t necessarily that we were setting those up for her. One was kind a desperation thing where the ball just got to her. We tried to set up more shots like that for her, but (Mabton) did a good job cutting that off.”
Sophomore post Mia Smith, easily the tallest player on the court at 6-foot-1, found herself smothered by no fewer than three sets of clutching, grabbing hands whenever she brought the ball down to waist level. But as the game wore on, she managed to keep the ball high and give the Dragons an inside scoring threat.
Rickard said the most important part of the game was that his team got through it with the win, no matter how the game looked. It was a win. The Dragons will work on making it look prettier Thursday.
St. George’s advances to a rematch with No. 1-ranked Ilwaco in the second of four quarterfinal games at 10:30 a.m.
“We played them in the quarterfinals last year and they got us by one,” Rickard said. “We’re excited to have a rematch.”
To get ready, he said, the team would pack up at the Arena and go back to class. Later they would get some video of the Fishermen and work on a game strategy.
“That’s the advantage of playing at home,” he said.
Tri-Cities Prep 77, White Swan 63: The Jaguars booked a berth in Thursday’s 9 a.m. quarterfinal with Colfax by shooting almost 55 percent from the field (23 of 55), with three players combining to score 69 of their 77 points. Alyssa Monteon and Talia Von Oelhoffen each scored 24 points and Emily Dickson added 21.
Napavine 62, Brewster 51: The Tigers came out of the locker room ready to shoot. Napavine raced to a 30-18 lead after one quarter and the Bears were never able to substantially dent that lead the rest of the way. Melissa Lee hit 12 of 16 shots from the field and put up 31 points, Mollie Olson scored 14 points and Becca Snaza added 10. Yvette Sanchez hit 6 of 10 from 3-point range and scored 20 points, helping keep the Bears close. Napavine, ranked No. 4 in the state’s RPI rankings, faces No. 3 Wahkiakum in the 12:15 p.m. quarterfinal.
Life Christian Academy 55, La Conner 30: The Eagles held the Braves to just 17 points over the final three quarters and won the loser-out game going away. Life Christian advances to face defending champion Davenport in the fourth quarterfinal game at 2 p.m.