Tommies dig down low in win over Kamiak

Published 11:22 pm Tuesday, February 12, 2008

MUKILTEO — When Britt Harris gets rolling, it’s generally not a good thing for opponents.

Marysville-Pilchuck’s do-it-all post scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter to ensure the Tomahawks would overcome the no-quit Kamiak Knights 55-45 in a Class 4A District 1 playoff game Tuesday night.

With the triumph, M-P (17-5) moves on to a winner-to-state game against a familiar foe, the Lake Stevens Vikings (20-1), at Marysville-Pilchuck High School on Friday night.

Kamiak (15-7) has a loser-out date with Mountlake Terrace (4-17) Thursday night at Marysville-Pilchuck.

“That was a battle, we knew they were tough,” said Harris, sporting bruises and scrapes down her right arm after grabbing 17 rebounds, including six on the offensive end.

The game was very physical inside with Harris and Jessica Masters (11 points, six rebounds, four assists) taking on Kamiak’s formidable frontline of Julia Church (15 points, eight rebounds), Kelsey Patrick (10 points, eight rebounds) and Jordan Keller (four rebounds).

“Those are some really solid players,” Church said of Harris and Masters. “We knew we had to focus on them, but as we started shutting them down others started scoring.”

After leading by as many as 12, M-P settled for a 23-19 halftime lead.

“Kamiak, they’re fighters,” Tomahawks head coach Julie Martin said. “They got about 10 more offensive boards than us (in the first half) and I told my team we needed to get out there and work harder if we want to go to state.”

The Tommies responded by taking command on both ends of the floor out of the gate in the second half.

“(Harris) really did a great job by using her body and getting some offensive boards,” Martin said. “And she got a little more aggressive on defense.”

The Tomahawks opened the third quarter with a torrid 12-2 run during which Patrick, the Knights leading scorer at 18.4 points per game, drew her fourth personal foul.

M-P’s Masters poured in seven points during the run, but her biggest contribution of the night may have come on defense.

“We gave (Masters) the job of guarding someone (Patrick) who is one of the best players in Wesco,” Martin said. “We said this is your girl and she did a great job.”

“I give Marysville a lot of credit,” Kamiak coach Jody Schauer said. “They played hard and we got frustrated and took ourselves out of the game early … I’m proud of our effort and our heart at the end of the game, but would like to see that throughout the game.”

Morgan Martinis swung a pass around the perimeter to Masters whose 3-pointer from right of the circle provided M-P with a 35-21 bulge with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter.

The Knights battled back gamely with a spirited 11-2 run of their own — a streak aided by a 3-pointer by Samantha Sovich — to get within five points. But a driving layin by Dacia Heckendorf gave M-P a seven-point lead heading into the final quarter.

A pair of free throws by Church cut the gap, but the Tommies responded with a 6-0 run, punctuated by a left-handed lay-in by Anna West (12 points) that made the score 45-34 with six minutes remaining.

“Anna West played a phenomenal game by taking it to the hole and by being really controlled in her passing,” Martin said. “I went through the bench and it’s always nice when people are working hard and throwing themselves out on the floor.”

Down by double-digits, the Knights refused to go away. A tough bank-shot by Church capped a 5-0 run.

But, M-P’s Harris answered with three inside buckets — sandwiched around a tough leaner by Kamiak’s Keller — and the lead was back to double-digits with 1:45 to play.

Shaelei Lucas scored all eight of her points in the first half and Nicole Peterson had four rebounds, four assists and three steals for M-P.

M-P jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening minutes.

Lucas and West combined for 10 points as the Tomahawks built their lead to 13-3 by the end of the first quarter.

At Kamiak H.S.

M-P13101616—55

Kamiak3161313—45

M-P — Lucas 8, Fordon 2, West 12, Masters 11, Harris 18, Heckendorf 2, Adams 2, Martinis, Juco, Peterson. Kamiak — Sovich 5, Simmons 2, Patrick 10, Keller 3, K. Kussman 2, T. Kussman 5, Church 15, McClaskey 1, Johnson 2. 3-point goals — Masters 1, Sovich 1, Patrick 2. Records — M-P 17-5, Kamiak 15-7.