Lake Stevens girls can’t make up 11-point deficit to start game
Published 10:23 pm Friday, March 5, 2010
TACOMA — Trying to dig out of an 11-0 hole to start the game was hard enough for the Lake Stevens girls basketball team.
Trying to overcome 12 unanswered Chiawana points to start the second half was just too much.
Lake Stevens battled gamely throughout and made a determined fourth-quarter comeback on Friday afternoon, but fell short in a 52-44 consolation-bracket defeat at the 4A state tournament in the Tacoma Dome.
The outcome ended the Vikings’ season with a 19-7 record.
“We’ve really overachieved all year long,” said Lake Stevens coach Randall Edens, “and I thought we could maybe take one more step and overachieve just a little bit to sneak into Saturday (the final day of the tournament). But it just wasn’t meant to be, I guess.”
Lake Stevens trailed 11-0 to start the game and did not score until forward Meghan Warbis dropped in two free throws with 3:18 to play in the first quarter. Still, the Vikings went on to run off 10 straight points of their own, though they trailed 25-18 at halftime.
Chiawana, a first-year school in Pasco, then opened the third quarter with a 12-0 run, dropping the Vikings into a 37-18 deficit with 5½ minutes left in the period.
But Lake Stevens again rallied, this time led by freshman guard Brooke Pahukoa, who scored 13 of her 14 points in the game’s final 12½ minutes. The Vikings trailed 41-31 heading into the final quarter and had a chance to go in front with just over two minutes to play, but Pahukoa missed two free throws and the Riverhawks pulled away in the remaining moments.
“We put ourselves in a position to win down the stretch, but unfortunately we didn’t have a few things go our way,” Edens said.
It was the final game for Lake Stevens seniors Kayla Bostwick, Stephanie Schumacher, Chantelle Burke and Sam Peterson. That quartet helped the Vikings reach the state tournament this season for the fourth time in five years, though the team has yet to win twice at state and take home a trophy.
“I know they wanted to be the first group to push through the door and get a trophy for myself and our program since I’ve been here,” said Edens, who is in his fifth season. “But they’re just great kids, and that’s what makes it tough for the season to be over.”
At the Tacoma Dome
Lake Stevens1081313—44
Chiawana11141611—52
Lake Stevens—Goodard 3, Bostwick 2, Warbis 4, Corinne Burke 7, Schumacher 14, Brooke Pahukoa 14. Chiawana—Sparks 7, Ellsworth 7, Valdez 9, Hodgins 5, Rivard 24. 3-point goals—Schumacher 2, Corinne Burke 2, Goddard 1, Ellsworth 1, Hodgins 1, Rivard 1. Records—Lake Stevens is 19-7. Chiawana is 22-4.
