State roundup: Madilyn Crowley solid at the line, Ridgeline girls top Peninsula in state play-in game; Falcons boys fall to Todd Beamer
Tuesday marked the first state basketball games in Ridgeline school history. While both teams played in elimination games, the girls had the luxury of playing at home, while the boys were on the opposite side of the state.
The results emphasized the benefits of a home court advantage.
Freshman Grace Sheridan scored 17 points, sophomore Madilyn Crowley added 11 – shooting 7 of 8 at the free-throw line – and the 14th-seeded Falcons beat 19th-seeded Peninsula 49-39 in a State 3A elimination game.
Ridgeline (15-10) faces No. 11 Kennewick at Richland HS on Friday at 6 p.m. in another elimination game.
If the young Falcons were nervous in their first playoff game, they didn’t act like it.
“We’ve just got to think of as it as just a normal game,” Crowley said. “We can’t let those extra nerves get to us because they can mess with us down the stretch.”
“I don’t think that we had many nerves,” Ridgeline coach Clyde Woods said. “Basketball is a game of runs. The team that has the longest run – and probably the last run – has the benefit.”
Ridgeline led by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Peninsula (14-10) went to a zone defense and a 9-2 spurt by the Seahawks cut the lead to four with 2½ minutes to go. But Peninsula needed to give some fouls to stop the clock, and Crowley made 5 of 6 down the stretch to seal it.
“I shoot free throws all the time,” Crowley said. “It’s just repetition for me, so there’s nothing much to it.”
“Playoff basketball. We’ve prepared all season for this time right here,” Woods said. “And when it’s clutch time, we’re gonna step up and we’re gonna go …”
Early on, Sheridan hit two 3-pointers, including one at the first-quarter buzzer, and the Falcons led 13-12. Peninsula opened the second quarter with a 7-2 run, but Lydia Lynn scored on a pair of fastbreak layups and Ridgeline trailed 21-20 at halftime.
With Peninsula sitting in a 2-3 zone, Sheridan drained a pair of 3s and Ridgeline led 28-26 with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Emma Myers hit a 3, then Habiba Adam made a steal at midcourt and her layup at the buzzer. That pushed it to 39-28 for Ridgeline at the end of the third quarter.
“We finally realized that we can do this,” Crowley said. “We trusted our teammates and we just played as a team and we figured it out at the end.”
Boys
Todd Beamer 63, Ridgeline 57: Will Tellis scored 26 points and the 13th-seeded Titans (19-4) eliminated the visiting 20th-seeded Falcons (16-9) in a State 3A play-in game in Federal Way. Todd Beamer plays at No. 12 Mt. Vernon on Saturday at 6 p.m. in another elimination game.
The Falcons led 25-24 at halftime but were outscored 16-11 in the third quarter. Tellis scored 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Brayden Allen led Ridgeline with 18 points., Wyatt Cline added 11 and Easton Amend had 10.
1B
Wilbur-Creston 68, Oakville 46: Kallen Maioho hit four 3-pointers and scored 39 points and the 14-seeded Wildcats (13-8) eliminated the visiting 19-seeded Acorns (15-4) in a State 1B play-in game. Courtney Price led Oakville with 20 points. Maioho surpassed 1,000 career points for WCK, which advances to play Muckleshoot Tribal School in an elimination game Saturday .
Summit Classic 78, Northport 66: The 15th-seeded Archers (18-7) eliminated the 18th-seeded Mustangs (13-10) at Forest Ridge HS in Bellevue. Details were unavailable.