Published: Friday, February 10, 2012
Jackson beats Stanwood to advance to 4A district title game
Late free throws help the T-wolves hold off Stanwood
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Jackson's Kelli Kingma (3) passes out of the lane as Stanwood's Renee Lucero trails the play.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Stanwood's Renee Lucero (24) drives on Jackson's Sierra Anderson (left).
ARLINGTON -- After falling behind early in their district semifinal against Jackson, the Stanwood girls basketball team roared back to tie the game.
After falling behind late, the Spartans were unable to duplicate the feat.
Jackson gave up an 11-point late third-quarter lead and Stanwood had the ball with the score tied 53-53 late in the game, but the crucial basket eluded the Spartans and they fell to Jackson 57-55 Friday night.
For the Timberwolves it means advancing to the team's first state tournament in three years.
"It's very exciting with this group of seniors to be able to honor them by getting them back to the state tournament," Jackson coach Jeannie Boyer said.
As the team poured out of the locker room after the game, one of the T Wolves said, "My cheeks hurt from smiling too much." Another replied, "me too."
They had smiles on their faces because they almost let it Stanwood's Renee Lucero drove the lane and knotted the score at 53-53 with less than 2 minutes remaining. Jackson's Kristen Stoffel, who led all scorers with 16 points, couldn't convert a 5-footer and the Spartans got the ball back. After a missed shot by Stanwood, Kelli Kingma, who was second on her team with 11 points, buried a pair of free throws to give Jackson the lead for good.
Stanwood coach Dennis Kloke called a timeout with 23 seconds left and set up a play similar to the one that got Lucero free in the lane.
The inbounds pass went to post Paisley Heckman, who scored 12 points on the night, and she passed to forward Jade Borseth, who led the team with 13 points. She was supposed to get the ball to a guard. Instead the pass went out of bounds, all but sealing Stanwood's fate.
"(It was) the excitement of the game," Kloke said. "Remember these are young kids and this is really their first (postseason) experience. Everybody thinks our (seven) seniors are veterans, but those girls of the other teams have been to state and a few things."
Jackson jumped to an 18-10 lead with Stoffel, a Seattle University recruit, leading the way.
"Everyone on the team wanted to get everyone excited and pumped for the game," Stoffel said of her team's pregame activities. "We knew we were both very talented teams so whoever came out with more energy and aggression was going to win."
Statistically the difference in the game was on the boards, where Jackson held a 36-25 edge, 24-11 in the first half.
"They just killed us on the boards," Kloke said.
This is not the end of the line for an impressive Stanwood squad that Kloke said might benefit from the long road through the loser's bracket. Three wins still gets the Spartans to the state regionals and they likely will be favored in all three.
"We're going to keep working hard," Kloke said. "These kids will bounce back. They're going to be disappointed but they are not going to be discouraged."
Jackson, meanwhile, faces Lake Stevens, which ran away with the other semifinal game at Arlington High School, 61-37 over Snohomish. The Vikings handed Jackson one of its three losses this season.
"We are definitely excited (about playing Lake Stevens next Friday)," Kingma said. "We have a lot of confidence coming out of that game. We think if we play as hard as we can, then we can compete with anybody."
At Arlington H.S.
Stanwood 10 11 18 16 -- 55
Jackson 18 15 14 10 -- 57
Stanwood--Palmer 0, Duncan 0, Powell ,0 Kelleigh 5, Lucero 8, Bingham 7, Jacobs 0, Ta. Murphy 2, Borseth 13, Swartz 7, Heckman 12, Tr. Murphy 1. Jackson--K. Kingma 11, Rawlins 0, Anderson 9, Lopez-Flores 0, B. Kingma 0, , Hagans 4, M. Johnson 4, Murphy 0, A. Johnson 1, Mason 0, Stoffel 16, Gjertsen 6. Three-Point Goals--K. Kingma 3, M. Johnson 1, Kelleigh 1, Borseth 1. Records--Stanwood 20-2. Jackson 19-3.
After falling behind late, the Spartans were unable to duplicate the feat.
Jackson gave up an 11-point late third-quarter lead and Stanwood had the ball with the score tied 53-53 late in the game, but the crucial basket eluded the Spartans and they fell to Jackson 57-55 Friday night.
For the Timberwolves it means advancing to the team's first state tournament in three years.
"It's very exciting with this group of seniors to be able to honor them by getting them back to the state tournament," Jackson coach Jeannie Boyer said.
As the team poured out of the locker room after the game, one of the T Wolves said, "My cheeks hurt from smiling too much." Another replied, "me too."
They had smiles on their faces because they almost let it Stanwood's Renee Lucero drove the lane and knotted the score at 53-53 with less than 2 minutes remaining. Jackson's Kristen Stoffel, who led all scorers with 16 points, couldn't convert a 5-footer and the Spartans got the ball back. After a missed shot by Stanwood, Kelli Kingma, who was second on her team with 11 points, buried a pair of free throws to give Jackson the lead for good.
Stanwood coach Dennis Kloke called a timeout with 23 seconds left and set up a play similar to the one that got Lucero free in the lane.
The inbounds pass went to post Paisley Heckman, who scored 12 points on the night, and she passed to forward Jade Borseth, who led the team with 13 points. She was supposed to get the ball to a guard. Instead the pass went out of bounds, all but sealing Stanwood's fate.
"(It was) the excitement of the game," Kloke said. "Remember these are young kids and this is really their first (postseason) experience. Everybody thinks our (seven) seniors are veterans, but those girls of the other teams have been to state and a few things."
Jackson jumped to an 18-10 lead with Stoffel, a Seattle University recruit, leading the way.
"Everyone on the team wanted to get everyone excited and pumped for the game," Stoffel said of her team's pregame activities. "We knew we were both very talented teams so whoever came out with more energy and aggression was going to win."
Statistically the difference in the game was on the boards, where Jackson held a 36-25 edge, 24-11 in the first half.
"They just killed us on the boards," Kloke said.
This is not the end of the line for an impressive Stanwood squad that Kloke said might benefit from the long road through the loser's bracket. Three wins still gets the Spartans to the state regionals and they likely will be favored in all three.
"We're going to keep working hard," Kloke said. "These kids will bounce back. They're going to be disappointed but they are not going to be discouraged."
Jackson, meanwhile, faces Lake Stevens, which ran away with the other semifinal game at Arlington High School, 61-37 over Snohomish. The Vikings handed Jackson one of its three losses this season.
"We are definitely excited (about playing Lake Stevens next Friday)," Kingma said. "We have a lot of confidence coming out of that game. We think if we play as hard as we can, then we can compete with anybody."
At Arlington H.S.
Stanwood 10 11 18 16 -- 55
Jackson 18 15 14 10 -- 57
Stanwood--Palmer 0, Duncan 0, Powell ,0 Kelleigh 5, Lucero 8, Bingham 7, Jacobs 0, Ta. Murphy 2, Borseth 13, Swartz 7, Heckman 12, Tr. Murphy 1. Jackson--K. Kingma 11, Rawlins 0, Anderson 9, Lopez-Flores 0, B. Kingma 0, , Hagans 4, M. Johnson 4, Murphy 0, A. Johnson 1, Mason 0, Stoffel 16, Gjertsen 6. Three-Point Goals--K. Kingma 3, M. Johnson 1, Kelleigh 1, Borseth 1. Records--Stanwood 20-2. Jackson 19-3.
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