Good game sours at end for Lake Stevens girls, who lose 58-54 to Prairie in Class 4A state tournament

Published 11:22 pm Thursday, February 28, 2008

TACOMA — The tears on the cheeks of the Lake Stevens girls basketball players emerging from their Tacoma Dome locker room told the disappointing story more than their words possibly could have.

The Vikings were so close to pulling off a quarterfinal upset. So close to a semifinal berth in the Class 4A State Tournament.

Instead, there were tears and disappointment as Prairie staged a fourth-quarter comeback for a 58-54 quarterfinal victory over Lake Stevens Thursday night.

“We had it,” Vikings coach Randy Edens said. “We were right there, exactly where we wanted to be … We were in a position to win there at the end, and that’s all we can ask against a good team like that at this time of year. Our kids played great and we’re tremendously proud of them.”

Prairie (20-3) came into the tournament ranked as the state’s co-No. 1 along with defending champion Lewis &Clark, and it was assumed that those two schools were headed for a semifinal showdown tonight.

The fourth-ranked Vikings (22-3) had other ideas, however, and for the first three quarters looked to be in control of the game.

While Ashley Corral, Prairie’s McDonald’s All-American, struggled to get going in the first half, Lake Stevens senior Karri Gallagher was dominant in the paint. She scored 15 first-half points while making five of six field goal attempts and all five of her free throw attempts. The 6-foot-3 Gallagher, who finished with 22 points and six rebounds, and fellow post Brittany Tri (6-1) provided match-up problems for the smaller Falcons.

“Their interior game was just tough,” Prairie coach Al Aldridge said. “They were able to throw over the top of us and they just did a real nice job. Gallagher finished, she was near perfect shooting the ball, and we just couldn’t keep it out of her hands.”

The Vikings led by seven at halftime, and by six at the end of three quarters, but as Aldridge put it after the game, “You’re never out of the game with Ashley (Corral). I knew if we stayed close, we could find a way to win.”

After Lake Stevens scored to go up by eight at the start of the fourth quarter, Prairie responded with an 8-0 run, tying the game on an NBA-range 3-pointer by Corral, who finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Lake Stevens answered with baskets by Tri and Gallagher to go up by four points with 2:04, but those were the Vikings last points in a bizarre — and Lake Stevens fans might say questionably officiated — finish.

With her team up by four, Mary Ochiltree came up with what looked to be a huge steal from Corral, but as Ochiltree tried to chase down the ball she had just knocked free, she was called for traveling with 1:48 to play in the game.

Frustrated with the call, Ochiltree softly tossed the ball behind her, where it bounced into the nearby press table. The Lake Stevens senior and her coach were surprised when she was whistled for a technical foul. Corral made both free throws, then Emily Lashua scored on the ensuing possession to tie the score at 54.

“That’s a tough call that time of the game and in that situation,” said Edens, who noted he didn’t see what happened to draw the technical. “That’s unfortunate, but at the same time, we just feel like we were right there knocking on the door and we needed just one little extra push to get through.”

Neither team scored for more than a minute until Prairie took the lead for good on Lindsey Levanen’s layup with 20 seconds remaining. In a timeout prior to that basket, Aldridge drew up a play for Corral to find Levanen making a back-door cut, and the play worked to perfection as Levanen made just her second basket of the game.

Lake Stevens managed to get the ball in the hands of Gallagher for a tying shot attempt, but her shot was blocked by Lashua with eight seconds remaining. Corral was then fouled and made two free throws to put the game away.

“I thought we should have had a foul called right there at the end, but that’s just kind of the way it goes I guess,” Edens said of Gallagher’s final shot attempt. “Our kids played tremendous, and we’re tremendously proud of them.”

Lake Stevens now has to recover from the loss and play Wesco rival Snohomish today at 2 p.m. The Vikings can still obtain their original goal of taking home a top-eight trophy.

“Our goal was to get to Saturday and that’s what we’re going to do,” said Ochiltree. “But it’s disappointing right now. We had a great game until the last couple of minutes.”

At the Tacoma Dome

Lake Stevens1515186—54

Prairie12111916—58

Lake Stevens — Ochiltree 6, Tri 8, Burke, Bostwick, Warbis, Tate 5, Personius 13, Gallagher 22. Prairie — Meyer 7, Lashua 10, Sonners, Corral 28, Scobba 3, Munson, Levanen 4, Fournier, Klaffenbach 6. 3-pointers — Ochiltree 2, Personius 3, Corral 6.