DUVALL — The numbers don’t lie: the Archbishop Murphy girls basketball team has been unstoppable.
The Wildcats continued their dominant run through the Cascade Conference, jumping out to an early double-digit lead en route to a 65-35 victory over Cedarcrest on Tuesday night at Cedarcrest High School.
“It was a good defensive effort to start the game,” Wildcats head coach John Barhanovich said. “When you can get off to an 11-0 start, because you’re playing good defense … then you’ve dictated the tempo.”
Both teams were unbeaten in league play going into the night, with Murphy (5-0 in league, 10-0 overall) winning its four Cascade Conference games by an average margin of 29 points.
The Red Wolves (3-1, 7-3) got behind early — Murphy ran off 11 unanswered points in the first five minutes — but regrouped after the intermission and showed no letdown throughout the game.
“They were tough, I think we got a little scared, but we played them evenly the rest of the game,” Cedarcrest head coach Angela Jensen said. “You have to come out in the first quarter, or that’s what’s going to happen.”
The Wildcats spread the scoring around, with every player getting some points. Junior Megan Carlson came off the bench to lead the team with 10 points. Sophomore Kelsy Rasmussen added nine points, also in relief.
“We have a lot of talent, usually you’ll find teams with just one or two people that are really good,” Murphy junior Sam Pettinger said. “But this year it’s like the whole team, we have a whole lot of team chemistry.”
Pettinger and senior Alyssa Smith entered the night 1-2 in scoring for the Wildcats, but both finished below their averages. Each contributed in other ways, however.
Pettinger finished with seven points — none in the second half — but created several turnovers and notched assist after assist in the first half to help the Wildcats to a 36-15 lead at the break.
“She’s very athletic, so when she’s on the court, things happen in our favor most of the time,” Barhanovich said of Pettinger. “She’s very quick, gets some layups, steals the basketball, she does a lot of good things for us because of her athletic ability.”
Smith dominated in the paint, pulling down 13 of Murphy’s 36 rebounds in the game, and helping to hold the Red Wolves to just 19 rebounds on the night.
“Defense won the game for us,” Smith said. “We have a really strong defensive team and when we get a lot of stops and steals, we can push ball … rotate it around. That’s how we got a lot of our points tonight.”
Juniors Shelby Lyman and Nickole Bartholomew, and senior Rachel Shober each contributed six points for the Wildcats.
“We like to have balance on offense,” Barhanovich said. “You got good players, they do it on the court. Pretty easy sitting here watching, when you’ve got kids that can do what they do.”
Brooke Chapman led the Red Wolves with 11 points and fellow senior Jackie Taylor had six. Junior Claire O’Donnell added seven points coming off the bench.
On defense, the Wildcats were able to frustrate the Red Wolves by clogging the middle, forcing Cedarcrest to go outside — without much success.
“We have a lot of girls that drive to the basket,” Jensen said. “Teams are going to know that about our girls and play off of it.”
When the Red Wolves attempted to drive the lane, they often ended up at the free-throw line. Eleven of Cedarcrest’s 21 points through three periods — including all in the third quarter — came from the stripe.
Wildcats coach Barhanovich acknowledged before the game that his team enjoyed the advantage having played together for several years.
“These seniors have been with me for four years, the juniors for three,” Barhanovich said. “When we go out on the court and I call something … they know what I’m looking at.”
At Cedarcrest H.S.
Murphy1818821—65
Cedarcrest69614—35
A.Murphy— Pettinger 7, Smith 8, Lyman 6, Carlson 10, Fletcher 8, Shober 6, Anderson 2, Bartholomew 6, Rasmussen 9, Vincent 3. Cedarcrest—Den Hartog 0, Houser 2, Kevin 4, Taylor 6, Chapman 11, Richter 3, O’Donnell 7, Paquette 0, Vakomoce 2. 3-point goals—Lyman 2, Rasmussen 1. Records— Archbishop Murphy 5-0 in league, 10-0 overall. Cedarcrest 3-1, 7-3.
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