By Michael Anderson, Correspondent
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YAKIMA -- Lakeside's Jocelyn Cook-Cox knew the best thing she could do was take advantage of opportunities her teammates gave her.
She did just that Friday night with a 29-point effort that lifted the Eagles past Zillah, 52-44, in the State 1A basketball semifinals at the Yakima SunDome.
The Eagles (24-1) will play tournament co-favorite King's today at 3 p.m. for a chance to win their first title since the 2001 team won the 2A title. King's dashed out to a 10-0 lead against Cashmere in the other semifinal and were never challenged in a 47-33 win.
Cook-Cox hit 12 of 16 field goal attempts and grabbed nine rebounds. That effort was the biggest reason that a squad that puts the team concept first is playing for a state title. It seemed like Cook-Cox was in total control in the final period, but in truth, her performance was remarkably balanced. She scored 15 of her points in the first half and her second half scoring was split evenly between the quarters.
"It wasn't me," Cook-Cox insisted when asked about her performance. "My teammates created those opportunities for me. They gave the ball to me."
Those chances were plentiful in the decisive final period. Lakeside trailed by five points entering the period. Cook-Cox hit one of her two 3-pointers with 4:43 remaining in the third to give Lakeside a five-point lead of its own before Zillah closed on a 12-2 run fueled by two 3-pointers from Trista Takes Enemy.
Shaye Swannack had a three-point play to open the period for Lakeside, then Cook-Cox scored seven straight points, giving the Eagles a 43-38 lead. Kelsey Jones buried a 3-pointer to make the Lakeside lead six points, but Zillah closed quickly to within two at 46-44.
Jones silenced that threat with another 3-pointer and Zillah didn't score again.
"We talked to the kids at halftime about remembering to have faith that the team will help," Lakeside coach Jeff Pietz said. "We rely on that. Kelsey Jones hit that big three to help the team."
Lakeside's depth was also a factor. Nine players got into the game, six of them logging between 11 and 23 minutes. Zillah on the other hand had five players log 25 minutes or more.
Shaye Swannack was also in double figures for Lakeside with 11 points.