Prep girls basketball: Everett tops Shorecrest

Published 10:48 pm Wednesday, January 4, 2012

EVERETT — The Everett girls basketball team believes that defense wins basketball games. Adding a little offense doesn’t hurt, either.

The Seagulls played a complete all-around game and handed Shorecrest its first conference loss of the season with a 63-50 victory over the Scots on Wednesday night at Everett High School.

On defense, Everett stole the ball 17 times. On offense, the Seagulls shot 20-for-44 (45 percent) from the field to pull away early in the Wesco 3A contest.

“We’re a transition team,” Everett head coach John Low said. “We shot the ball well at the start of the game and had great defense in the first half.”

The Seagulls (5-2 league, 8-3 overall) held the Scots to 17 points in the first half, shifting back and forth between a 2-3 zone and a man-to-man defense. Shorecrest didn’t score in the second quarter until just over three of the period’s eight minutes had been played.

“We tried to switch it up,” Low said.

In the second half the Scots actually outscored the Seagulls 33-31, but Everett had a big enough lead to withstand Shorecrest’s run.

Sophomore guard Sidney Rielly led Everett’s offense with a game-high 26 points — 19 of which came in the second half. She scored 10 of the Seagulls’ 13 points in the fourth quarter.

“She can get going quick,” Low said.

Rielly said she attacked more in the second half and was determined to make an offensive impact — all the while continuing to play tight defense.

“The first half was kind of rough,” she said. “In the second half I came out more aggressive.”

Despite the points allowed, the Seagulls’ defense remained intense the entire game, forcing the Scots into bad passes, travelling calls and wayward shots.

“In the past games we have not been as aggressive and intense on defense as we should have been,” Rielly said. “So in this game we came out tough.

“Defense really does win games, and we have to play good defense if we’re gonna be the team we want to be.”

The Seagulls want to be a team that contends with the rest of the Wesco 3A for one of the conference’s six District 1 playoff berths.

“That was a big thing for us,” Low said. “We want to be battling against the Shorecrests, Glacier Peaks, Lynnwoods and Meadowdales.”

Last month the Seagulls lost games to Shorewood and Glacier Peak, but insist those games are behind them, Rielly said. Everett is undefeated in the new year.

“We’ve come off a couple tough losses and we wanted to come out and show what a tough team we can be,” Rielly said.

Mission accomplished.

Darian Rielly, Sidney’s younger sister, scored 12 points and Kiki Harper added eight points and grabbed four steals for Everett. Rosie Sittauer’s seven rebounds helped the Seagulls outrebound the Scots 25-14 and provide a big confidence-boosting win for a youthful Everett team that just has two seniors on its squad.

“We’re a young team so any time you get a big win it’ll help boost their confidence,” Low said.

Janie Uppinghouse led Shorecrest’s attack with 13 points and Brianne Lasconia was right on her heels with 12. Uppinghouse had a big third quarter — scoring nine — to help spark a 7-0 Scots run that ended after a Sidney Rielly 3-pointer.

The Scots (5-1, 8-2) spent the entire fourth quarter in the double bonus and completed five of eight free throws (63 percent) to again rally to within seven points for the first time since the opening quarter, bringing the score to 56-49. But Rielly again hit a big 3-pointer and the lead was once again in double digits, where it remained for the final three minutes.

“We talk this season about each game being a step,” Low said. “Each game we want to be taking a step forward.”

At Everett H.S.

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Everett—Harper 8, Davis 5, Carr 3, D. Rielly 12, S. Rielly 26, Barhanovich 6, Rogge 2, Sittauer 0, Hagar 1, Smith 0. Shorecrest—Shattuck 4, Lindsey 0, Lasconia 12, Jones 3, Schlachter 0, Monson 0, Chibuogwu 10, Greenburg 4, Uppinghouse 13, Matheson 7. 3-point goals—Davis 1, Carr 1, D. Rielly 2, S. Rielly 3, Barhanovich 1, Uppinghouse 2. Records—Shorecrest 5-1 league, 8-2 overall. Everett 5-2, 8-3.