Young leads Snohomish girls basketball team over Edmonds-Woodway

Published 11:02 pm Saturday, January 21, 2012

SNOHOMISH — Julia Young hadn’t played a high school basketball game in more than a week. But you never would have known it Saturday night.

Young began a Wesco 4A clash against Edmonds-Woodway with an eight-point first quarter, helping the Panthers build an early lead. She finished the same way she started, scoring another eight points in the final quarter to stymie a Warriors’ run in the Panthers’ 51-38 victory at Snohomish High School.

By the end of the game Young had tallied a game-high 21 points, and although the Panthers won by 13 and outscored E-W in every quarter, the contest was far from decided until a 10-0 run by Snohomish in the final two minutes.

“I think for both teams there was dealing with some adversity because of the snow,” said Ken Roberts, the Panthers’ head coach. “I haven’t had a full team at practice all week. But both teams played well.”

The Warriors started the fourth quarter with a 4-0 run and held Snohomish scoreless until 4:21 remained in the game.

Edmonds-Woodway got to within three, 41-38, but could not get any closer as the Warriors shooters went cold, unable find the net the rest of the way.

“We forgot some things during our time off,” E-W coach Duane Hodges said.

Snohomish, meanwhile, kept driving to the basket. The Panthers drew five fouls in the fourth quarter, making their way to the free-throw line regularly.

In the second half, Snohomish made almost three times as many free throws (14) as field goals (five).

Once the Panthers had some E-W players in foul trouble, Roberts directed his players to take the basketball and head right toward them.

“They had a couple kids with four fouls and we wanted our kids to go right at ‘em,” Roberts said.

A couple of key Edmonds-Woodway players found themselves with high foul totals, including the Warriors’ two leading scorers. Senior Madeline Kasper — who led E-W with 12 points — fouled out with 1:28 remaining in the game. Her fifth foul came while guarding Young, who drove to the basket and appeared to slip while getting a shot off.

The referee saw it differently and Kasper headed to the bench.

“She hardly ever gets in foul trouble,” Hodges said.

It was a big loss for the Warriors. Kasper is their point guard and runs the offense.

“Madeline Kasper did some nice things for them,” Roberts said. “She didn’t always score, but she made things happen.”

With Kasper on the bench, her younger sister Natalie Kasper (10 points) became the Warriors’ leading scorer on the floor. But less than a minute after her sister fouled out, Natalie Kasper was whistled for her fifth foul and joined Madeline on the bench.

Even with all the fouls called, Roberts didn’t think it was a particularly physical game.

“It was more people going to the basket and reaching in,” he said.

The teams finished the game with an almost identical field goal percentage — Snohomish shooting 29.4 percent and Edmonds-Woodway 29.7 percent. However, the Panthers outshot the Warriors 51-37.

“Snohomish was very well prepared to play us. This is a tough place to win a game,” Hodges said.

Callie Harwood turned in a strong performance for the Panthers, scoring 14 points and grabbing five rebounds. Harwood, a 5-foot, 9-inch post, was a strong rebounding presence for Snohomish, which outrebounded E-W 36-26.

“I thought Callie Harwood played a good game for us. She’s a tough matchup,” Roberts said.

It was the Panthers’ fourth consecutive win. They won three before the snow postponed all of last week’s area prep games. With Snohomish not having played since Jan. 13, Roberts was worried that the time off might have erased any momentum that the Panthers had built up.

“We’d won three in a row and were feeling really good about ourselves,” Roberts said. “As a coach that makes you nervous when you’re starting to peak and then you don’t see them for a week.”

It was a similar situation for the Warriors, who hadn’t practiced since Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 16. The fact that both teams had an extended break made it a fair fight according to Hodges.

“They were in the same boat,” the E-W coach said. “It’ll be nice to get back to practice.”

Seyi Olajoyebe grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for the Warriors and blocked six shots.

At Snohomish H.S.

Edmonds-Woodway712118—38

Snohomish14131212—51

Edmonds-Woodway—M. Kasper 12, Eck 5, N. Kasper 10, Nealey 4, Spencer 0, Vogel 0, Jackson 4, Olajoyegbe 3, Fyfe 0. Snohomish—Bernston 0, Green 2, Young 21, Harwood 14, Lachapelle 4, Armbruster 0, Helms 0, Dreves 4, Bride 6, Gravelle 0. 3-point goals—Jackson 1, Young 3, Dreves 1. Records—Edmonds-Woodway 3-6 league, 7-9 overall. Snohomish 5-4, 8-7.