Arlington girls feel the pressure after boys win

Arlington’s basketball teams — both boys and girls — don’t exactly have a rich tradition of even making it to the Tacoma Dome, let alone making noise once they get here, but don’t tell that to this year’s Eagles.

Both the Arlington boys and girls were winners Thursday, sending them to the Class 4A state semifinals, and making them the only school with both teams in the semifinals. When the Arlington boys knocked off Richland early in the day, the girls knew they had to match that accomplishment.

“It’s awesome our boys made it,” said senior guard Krista Showalter. “There was pressure on us after they won, like, ‘Oh, we better do this too.’ For both of us to be top four in the state right now, it’s unbelievable.”

But while the boys team put their pressure on with their win Thursday, it was Arlington’s girls who set the standard last week, punching a ticket to state a day before the boys.

“The pressure was on them actually after we won our regional game and then they had to win to get to state, but today it was on us,” said senior forward Lindsay Brown, who scored a game-high 13 points in the Eagles’ 43-40 victory over Gonzaga Prep. “We’re feeding off of each other, and it’s good for both of us.”