Warriors beat M-P

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, January 11, 2011

EDMONDS — Early season tournament games against high-profile programs helped condition the Edmonds-Woodway girls basketball team for match-ups like Monday night’s against Marysville-Pilchuck.

Warriors senior post Sydney Donaldson had 21 points and nine rebounds, including seven po

ints in the extra frame, as Edmonds-Woodway pulled out a 65-60 overtime win against the Tomahawks in a Western Conference 4A league crossover game at Edmonds-Woodway High School.

Edmonds-Woodway (7-0 league, 11-3 overall) hasn’t lost to an area team this season — its two losses to Oregon schools and one against Auburn Riverside in early season contests.

“That’s exactly why we wanted to have those games,” Warriors head coach Duane Hodges said. “We didn’t do very well against Auburn Riverside in particular. This one was better. I think the girls feel like they can knock down free throws and make a play that’s going to make a difference.”

In a frantic last minute of regulation, Marysville-Pilchuck (4-3, 8-3) senior guard Andrea Adams hit a left-handed layup with 24 seconds on the clock to put the Tomahawks ahead 55-53 — the play capped a 8-0 run that brought M-P out of a six-point hole, its largest of the night.

Following the go-ahead runner, Warriors senior guard Angela Woods — who finished with 12 points — raced down the court and converted a three-point play after being fouled by forward Emily Enberg.

The play put Edmonds-Woodway ahead 56-55 with 17.1 seconds left and two fouls to give until the bonus. The Warriors used one of their fouls on the ensuing inbounds play, but a lapse in judgement led to a shooting foul as M-P’s Adams sliced to the hoop and was knocked off course with 9.7 seconds on the clock.

Adams missed the first free throw, but converted the second to force overtime after the Warriors failed to make a desperation 3-pointer.

Marysville-Pilchuck took a 59-56 lead on an Adams 3-pointer to open overtime, but the guard fouled out a minute later and Donaldson took over for the Warriors.

“Last year we kind of breezed our way through our league and we had a lot of confidence going into state and by the time we got to state we weren’t really used to playing that high caliber of teams,” Donaldson said. “So getting those really hard games in early and playing with that level helps us in these games to finish. We have experience before against higher level teams so it really helps us finish the games out.”

Adams scored 10 points for Marysville-Pilchuck and her presence on the floor in overtime was obviously missed.

“She’s our senior guard, she runs the show,” Tomahawks head coach Julie Martin said. “To not have her on the court with her brains was a little bit difficult in the end stretch.”

Marysville-Pilchuck, the last team to beat Edmonds-Woodway on its home court nearly two years ago, jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first half thanks to the hot shooting of guard Morgan Martinis. The Warriors closed the gap and used a 14-4 run in the second half to grab a 38-35 lead after three quarters.

“We don’t want to panic because … with the bunch of shooters we have we can generate a lot of points pretty quick,” Hodges said of dealing with the 11-point deficit. “I wasn’t worried about that. Offense I’m never really worried about, it’s always the defense that makes or breaks us.”

Martinis made four 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds for the Tomahwaks.

Junior guard Rebecca Lentz added a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds for M-P.

“A frustrating loss, for sure,” Martin said.

Senior post Ashley Albertson finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors.

“We see every game as the same,” Donaldson said. “The last time we lost on our home court was two years ago to (M-P) in districts. We really wanted to get this win, we really wanted to come out hard.

“A lot of people compare us, we’re very alike (as teams). We just kind of scrapped toward the end and we wanted to gain the momentum in overtime so we did our best to do that and we pulled it out.”

At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.

M-P 17 14 4 21 4 — 60

E-W1 2 15 11 18 9 — 65

Marysville-Pilchuck—Lentz 12, Pilon 0, Martinis 14, Adams 10, Peterson 2, Watson 8, Boyle 0, Enberg 6, Heckendorf 8. Edmonds-Woodway—Kasper 10, Nash 2, Kenney 6, Tuuamalemalo 0, Olajoyegbe 2, Albertson 12, Donaldson 21, Woods 12. 3-point field goals—Lentz 2, Martinis 4, Adams 1, Kasper 1, Woods 1. Records—Marysville-Pilchuck 4-3 league, 8-3 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 7-0, 11-3.