Everett avenges loss to Squalicum with playoff victory

Published 12:08 am Thursday, February 21, 2008

EVERETT — Never underestimate the revenge factor, espcially in playoff basketball.

Squalicum produced a 53-30 thrashing of Everett at the Seagulls’ home gym in the teams’ season opener on Nov. 26, so Everett had extra fire to add to the already intense atmosphere surrounding Wednesday night’s 3A District 1 Tournament game.

“Oh yeah, we definitely wanted to kill them,” said Everett guard Ashley Hope with a laugh, referring to Squalicum.

The Seagulls didn’t exactly replicate Squalicum’s dominance in the earlier game, but they did escape the first-round game with a 49-47 overtime win to set up a date with Ferndale at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Arlington High School in the semifinals.

Squalicum will face Arlington in a loser-out contest on Saturday at 2 p.m. also at Arlington High School.

“It was important to prove we could beat Squalicum, especially after that first game of the season,” Everett coach Kelly McCoy said.

It almost wasn’t to be, as Everett squandered a nine-point lead in the third quarter, and then nearly blew an eight-point fourth quarter lead. Everett also failed to put the game away by going just 2-for-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

“If we could have finished more and made our free throws, it wouldn’t have been as close, but we hung in there,” Hope said.

Trailing by eight points midway through the fourth quarter, Squalicum stormed back, shooting 5-for-7 from the free throw line while holding the Seagulls to a single free throw for the remainder of regulation to draw to within 2. The Storm’s Calial Lyon then made a layup at the buzzer to tie it at 44 and send it to overtime.

Everett never trailed in overtime. Hope’s free throw with seven seconds left gave the Seagulls a 49-47 advantage, which is how it ended as Squalicum failed to get a shot off after inbounding the ball following Hope’s free throw.

“In practice we’ve been going over last minute situations, so every was really mentally in it,” Hope said.

Hope had 13 points, Alex MacCormac had 12, and Shelby Bell and Alysia Letourneau each had nine for the Seagulls to lead a balanced Everett scoring attack that overcame its struggles at the free throw line to gut out the win.

Both teams struggled to finish at the basket as the teams combined for 21 first half turnovers. Squalicum shot 6-for-19 from the field and Everett was just 6-for-25 in the first half, as the teams entered halftime tied at 17.

Squalicum outrebounded Everett 16-9 in the opening half, and McCoy said her halftime conversation focused on rebounding and utilizing its quickness.

“We talked about transiton and getting down the floor on offense,” she said. “We (also) talked about how we needed to get every rebound and focus on positioning and we talked about protecting the middle. The first time Squalicum beat us, they were able to get the ball into the post.”

While the Seagulls didn’t outrebound Squalicum in the second half, they did contest every opportunity with the appearance of a team bent on revenge in the second half.

Mollie Antiojo found MacCormac wide open underneath the basket with 5:10 left in the third to give Everett its first lead at 21-19. The Seagulls closed the quarter on an 8-2 spurt as their increased interior presence and quick transitions put the Storm back on its heels.

Squalicum battled back to cut the defict to two with 6:13 left in the fourth quarter at 36-34. Everett responded with three consecutive transition baskets, capped by Letourneau’s with 3:50 to play, which gave Everett the 42-34 lead and set up the Storm’s comeback.

Taylor Ulrich had 14 and Nicola Follis had 12 to lead Squalicum.

At Everett H.S.

Squalicum8910173—47

Everett61117105—49

Squalicum — Seldal 3, Horne, Follis 12, Lyon 6, Dentinger 4, Savitch 6, Ulrich 14, Kaui 2, Killough. Everett — Antiojo 6, Bell 9, Burton, Fingarson, Hope 13, Letourneau 9, MacCormac 12, McMullen. 3-point goals — Hope 1, Ulrich 1. Records — Squalicum 8-13 overall. Everett 6-15.