Kennedy sends Glacier Peak girls home

Published 1:16 pm Friday, March 4, 2011

TACOMA — As the final seconds ticked down on Glacier Peak’s 3A consolation game with Kennedy on Friday morning, coach Brian Hill substituted for his two seniors.

The Lancers already had secured the 58-45 victory, but the Grizzlies coach wanted to recognize Becca Smith and Olivia VanDlac — the second graduating class in the team’s history.

Hill gave them both big hugs and the Glacier Peak (15-11) fans, who were significantly diminished from the quarterfinals at the same time the day before, recognized the duo.

“Both the seniors have played well all year,” Hill said after Glacier Peak was eliminated from the tournament with their second loss. “We’ll miss them next year. Their offense. Their leadership.”

VanDlac and Smith represented most of the Grizzlies’ offense, which struggled against Kennedy, with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Smith was efficient, shooting 5-for-7 from the floor and knocking down two of her three attempts from long range. VanDlac had 10 in the first half and was 6-for-8 from the free-throw line.

The seniors, who reached the state tournament for the first time in school history, battled but Kennedy (24-4) was a superior team, having lost twice each this season to undefeated Holy Names and Prairie, both semifinalists.

“It’s sad,” junior Katie Hawkins said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Thursday, Kennedy was 0-for-10 on 3-point attempts in a loss to Prairie. Lancers coach John Barbee said that if the his team got one or two treys Friday, it would be OK.

“We hit a couple and that gave us a lot of confidence,” Barbee said. “Also it opened it up inside for us to do a few more things.”

Vivienne McClean shot 4-for–5 from 3-point range, which accounted for all 12 of her points. Her first long bomb set off the Lancers and they never looked back.

The Grizzlies opened up a 12-11 advantage after the first quarter but McClean opened the second quarter by hitting a 3-pointer in one corner and then, after a bad inbounds pass by GP, a trey in the opposite corner. After a put-back by Kennedy’s Alli Madison, who finished with 13 points, the Lancers were suddenly up 19-12 and never trailed again.

Hill, who previously coached at Hazen, which is in the Seamount league with Kennedy, knew his team might have trouble matching up with the Lancers, whose roster boasts eight seniors, three of whom were on the 2009 state championship team.

“If we played man against them, they were too fast,” Hill said. “We tried to pack them into a zone and make them beat us from outside … and they beat us from outside.”

The Lancers’ defense forced Hawkins, the Grizzlies’ leading scorer, into her second straight rough game. The junior point guard was suffering from a mild biceps injury and committed eight turnovers to go with seven points and five rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter the Grizzlies rattled of a 12-3 run, sparked by a VanDlac three-point play to help trim what was as much as a 19-point lead to eight points with slightly less than three minutes to go. But Kennedy quickly hit back-to-back buckets to blunt the run.

“We were tired,” Smith said. “When we got down a little bit, we played like we were down a ton. We didn’t really stay positive with each other.”

The two-and-done result does little to detract from what the team accomplished this year, making the state tournament despite a fourth-place finish in the Wesco 3A.

“We just wanted to make it to state (before the season) and we made it past regionals,” Smith said. “I’m so proud of my team. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

Up until the 2011 tournament this team would have walked away at least an eighth-trophy, but the new format only awards trophies to the top six teams. Hill and the rest of the team plan to use that as motivation for the 2012 tournament.

“I’m just going to work that much harder during the season next year,” Hawkins said.

Glacier Peak 12 10 9 14–45
Kennedy 11 18 17 12–58
Glacier Peak— Hawkins 7, Smith 14, Rasmussen 0, Gaffney 2, Hill 4, VanDlac 16, Gere 0, Fausey 0, Weathersby 2. Kennedy—Trautman 0, Lemon 6, Hayes 4, Gosseen 0, Armstrong 0, Bojorquez 6, McClean 12, Madison 13, A. Williams 14, M. Williams 3, Green 0, Bourgette 0. Three-Point Goals— McClean 4, M. Williams 1, Smith 2, Hawkins 1. Records–Glacier Peak 15-11, Kennedy 24-4