2A, 1A state: Hailey Marlow’s buzzer-beater lifts West Valley girls into title game

YAKIMA – For the second night in a row, the West Valley girls kept fans at the Yakima Valley SunDome on the edge of their seats until the final seconds.

Then in the blink of an eye, high heart rates turned to high-fives.

Hailey Marlow hit a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer, lifting eighth-seeded West Valley to a 53-50 upset victory over No. 3 Tumwater in its State 2A semifinal contest Friday.

The Eagles (20-5) also won their quarterfinal game Thursday against W.F. West on a last-second make by Jillian Taylor.

The continuation of that thrilling trend means WV will play for the state title at 5 p.m. Saturday against top-seeded Lynden.

It will be just the second title appearance in program history after the Eagles won the championship in 1997.

Marlow finished with a team-high 14 points while Taylor and Nevaeh Sherwood chipped in eight apiece for West Valley.

Natalie Sumrok paced the Thunderbirds (24-2) with 15 points.

Clarkston 42, Lindbergh 38: Tru Allen score 19 points and the seventh-seeded Bantams (20-5) held off the No. 4 seed Eagles (25-4), earning a spot in the State 2A boys title game.

Trey Dreadfulwater added 13 points for Clarkston, which won 2A championships in 2015 and ’16.

Xavier Bailey and Mo Kora paced Lindbergh with 14 points apiece.

The Bantams will play third-seeded North Kitsap, which upset top-seed Lynden 62-56 in the other semifinal, at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Lynden Christian 45, Freeman 25: Riley Dykstra scored 13 points, and the second-seeded Lynx (26-1) topped the No. 4 Scotties (22-4) in a State 1A girls semifinal contest.

Jaycee Goldsmith scored nine points for Freeman, which faces fifth-seeded La Salle in the third-place game at 1 p.m. Saturday.