Belcher ‘trey’ magnifique
Lexi Belcher almost set the State B record for team 3-pointers in a game … by herself. And it nearly wasn’t enough.
Belcher, a sophomore, was 9 of 12 from behind the arc, setting the State B record for most 3-pointers by one player in a game, and finished with 32 points as Mossyrock eked past Garfield-Palouse 53-51 in a battle of Vikings Wednesday at the Spokane Arena.
Despite Belcher’s heroics, she was held without a field goal in the fourth quarter as Garfield-Palouse went on a 10-2 run to start the fourth and nearly stole the game. Mossyrock had to hold its breath as Gar-Pal point guard Holli Holbrook’s desperation 3-pointer with time running out bounced off the top of the backboard and off the side of the rim, giving Mossyrock a berth into the quarterfinals against Cusick, which routed Darrington 65-25.
Mossyrock (22-3) head coach Gary Stamper was pleased with the way his team – and Belcher especially, obviously – played against an intense, physical Gar-Pal (22-3) team.
“Garfield-Palouse played real hard,” Stamper said. “We knew that they were physical; they played real physical, so we felt like we just had to match up with them the same way and we’d be OK. … Lexi came out and hit some pretty big baskets and I think it eased things up a little bit.”
The biggest basket came at the end of the third quarter. Garfield-Palouse had cut an 11-point to six and Mossyrock was holding for the last shot. Belcher, from well-behind the top of the key, got a pick, stepped right and from 3 feet behind the 3-point arc beat the third-quarter buzzer and set the State B record for 3s in a game. The shot temporarily quelled Gar-Pal’s momentum and gave Mossyrock a 45-36 lead entering the fourth.
“It was a total team effort,” said Belcher, who said she had no idea she was nearing state-record territory. “Without them I wouldn’t have set the record. They set great pick for me … and I just shot when I was open. If I’m on, I’m not going to stop shooting.”
As it turned out, the Vikings would need every shot. Holbrook, who led the Whitman County League in scoring this season at 19.2 points per game and finished with a team-high 20 Wednesday, scored four quick points to start the fourth and bring Gar-Pal within five.
Belcher then missed a 3-pointer and on the ensuing possession, Garfield-Palouse senior Brenda Hershaw was fouled while making a runner and had a chance to pull the Vikings to within two points. Hershaw missed the free throw, but Gar-Pal senior wing Monica Boone got the rebound and the putback to make it a one-point game with 5:50 left in the fourth.
The teams would trade baskets throughout much of the fourth before Mossyrock’s Corina Allen, who played just 15 minutes due to foul trouble, came up big. Gar-Pal tied the game on a layin by Hershaw, but Allen, hit a huge 3-pointer from the right corner with 58 seconds left that gave Mossyrock a 53-50 lead and the Vikings would hold on from there. The shot gave Mossyrock 10 3-pointers on the day, one short of the record 11, set in 2001 by Pateros.
“When you have one of your starters (Allen) on the bench most of the game, and you still win the game, you’re a little bit fortunate,” Stamper said.
Belcher, who broke the individual record that was set by Mossyrock’s Staci Hendricks in 2002, is the younger sister of Lacey Belcher, who starred for Mossyrock in previous State B tournaments, including in 2004, when she played with Lexi.
“Staci and I are pretty good friends,” said Belcher, who said she has no plans to hold the record over Hendricks’ head. “I know she would be happy for me if I broke (the record). … We’ll just probably joke about it.” As for her sister, well, that’s a different story. Said Belcher with a chuckle, “I’ll probably give her some grief.”