Pilkinton lifts East to 2A win

Chelan guard Cassy Pilkinton hit four free throws in the last 56.5 seconds, giving the 2A East All-Stars a 61-59 win over the West in the main event of the Saturday’s Washington High School Girls All-State Basketball Games at Mead High School.

“Pilkinton hitting free throws (was the key),” East coach Kevin Mulligan said. “If she misses those free throws, it could’ve been a different game. She had a great game.”

Pilkinton hit 7 of 8 free throws in the game, scoring a game-high 14 points and earning MVP honors.

“I was just glad they went in,” Pilkinton said. “I’m not really that great of a free-throw shooter, but tonight they were going in for me luckily.”

The East led by as many as nine points in the second half, after Chewelah forward Sarah Scates scored the last of her eight points on a drive to the basket for a 50-41 lead with 8:07 left.

“We just kept on making runs and letting them back in,” Pilkinton said. “In the second half, we played a lot better, and it started rolling for us.”

The West responded, cutting the deficit to 56-54 with a layup from Mount Baker center Stephani Kier.

After an offensive foul on Pilkinton waved off an East basket, Kier hit two free throws to tie the game at 56 with 58.1 seconds remaining.

Things got more interesting in the final seconds. After Pilkinton’s free throws had given the East a four-point lead, Archbishop Murphy guard Krista Eknes hit a pull-up 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left to give the West one last chance.

The West then fouled Ephrata center Margie Lou Correll, who hit 1 of 2 free throws, then tipped the ensuing inbounds pass to end the game.

Meridian forward Angie Alvord led the West with 10 points, followed by Kier with nine.

1A: DePell, East pull away late

Due to the lack of size on East coach Matt Gregg’s squad, Freeman 5-foot-11 guard Jessie DePell had to adjust to playing in the post for a day.

But it didn’t faze the Associated Press 1A Player of the Year, who earned MVP honors in a 62-49 East win.

“She’s always been big for me,” said Gregg, also the Freeman head coach. “She does good things all the time.”

After a sluggish first half, the East went on an 8-0 run, capped by a DePell bank shot from the right side, to start the second half and take a 34-24 lead.

“Knowing we were only up two, we knew we had to come out strong,” DePell said. “So we came out running.”

The West pulled within three points with a 7-0 run of their own, then DePell took over. She made 1 of 2 free throws, put in another bank shot from the right side and hit a 22-foot 3-pointer in a 37-second span to give the East a cushion it would not relinquish.

DePell scored 14 of her game-high 16 points in the second half, while White Swan guard Andrea Blodgett added all 10 of her points in the first half. Bellevue Christian forward Melissa Reich led the West with 14 points.

B: Hot outside shooting leads West

Mossyrock guard Lexi Belcher followed up her State B single-game record nine 3-pointers during her March visit to Spokane with four 3-pointers and 21 points, leading the West to an 81-70 victory.

Taholah guard Dora Mae Brings Yellow, who averaged 23.2 points per game during the season, added 13, including three straight 3-pointers in the first half to put the West ahead.

“I know all our kids could shoot,” West coach Gary Stamper said. “It makes it a lot easier when you have a couple shooters who can stroke it from pretty much anywhere on the court.”

After a 24-foot Belcher 3-pointer put the West up 68-54 with 9:38 left, Sprague-Harrington guard Abby Hatten led an East comeback. Hatten scored eight of her 13 points during a 14-3 run, the last of which put the East within three points with 4:21 left.

“We started coming together as a team and not making so many mistakes, just getting into playing with each other,” Hatten said.

That would be as close as the East would get, as Belcher and Willapa Valley center Ashlea Pollard scored the last 10 West points to ice the game.

Garfield-Palouse guard Holli Holbrook led the East with 15 points, while Mossyrock point guard Corina Allen and Toutle Lake guard Jesse Hanna each added 11 points and two 3-pointers to the West attack.

The West squad hit 11 3-pointers in the game.