3A Girls District Tournament: Glacier Peak runs away from Lynnwood

Published 12:21 am Sunday, February 12, 2012

BOTHELL — In a game of runs, the Glacier Peak girls basketball team made the first and, more importantly, the last to pull away and eventually hold off Lynnwood, 46-36, on Saturday night in a spirited Class 3A District 1 semifinal playoff game.

After a back-and-forth first half, Glacier Peak went on top to stay in the early moments of the third quarter, and then pushed the margin to a game-high 10 points just seconds into the fourth quarter. But Lynnwood kept battling and had chances to take the game down to the wire, but the Grizzlies pulled away with free throws for another 10-point lead at the final horn.

“I thought we played a great overall team game,” said Glacier Peak coach Brian Hill. “We had great team defense and we played together.

“We tell the girls constantly that (basketball) is a game of runs,” he added. “We’re going to have a run and they’re going to have a run. … We tried to slow (the Royals) down a little bit on their runs, and at times we did OK and at times we didn’t do OK. But at the end we got the last run.”

The victory moves Glacier Peak into a district title showdown with Shorecrest at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday at Lynnwood High School.

“They’ve beat us twice this year,” Hill said of the Scots. “The first game we lost by two and the second game we lost by six or seven, but we can compete with them.

“We’ll go in being the underdog, I’m sure, but we don’t mind. That gets us a little riled up, and hopefully we’ll be able to put together a great game. I thought the girls put together a great game today, and if we can do the same thing (next week) it’ll be good.”

Lynnwood, meanwhile, drops back into the consolation bracket and will face Mount Vernon at 7 p.m. Wednesday, also at Lynnwood High School.

“We feel we’re in a good position in that we get to play the next two games at home,” said Royals coach Everett Edwards. “We’re just as confident as ever. We’ve got an opportunity to win three games and we think we’re capable of doing that, no matter who’s in the tournament. We think that if we play our basketball, we’ll have a chance to win.”

Against Glacier Peak, the Royals were hurt by early foul problems that put post Linda Wilson and wing Meghan Cross, probably the team’s two best inside players, on the bench for much of the game. Cross fouled out with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and finished with seven points, while Wilson had just two points.

Lynnwood countered by going to a mostly perimeter offense and it worked … sort of. The Royals had 28 attempts from the 3-point line and many of them were open looks, but they converted just four (.143 percent) and only one in the pivotal final period.

Outside shooting “is usually our strength,” Edwards said. “And we’re usually pretty good shooting 3s, but tonight we didn’t shoot a good enough percentage.”

Glacier Peak played a zone defense much of the game, and defenders were closing on Lynnwood’s shooters “fast enough that they felt rushed,” Hill explained. “That little extra that they had to speed up their shot might have thrown them off a little bit.”

Playing so much zone “was risky,” he added, “because I know they’re a great outside shooting team, but it was working. We tried to keep them from penetrating inside … and let them beat us from outside if they could.”

The Grizzlies were led by senior guard Katie Hawkins with 22 points, including 17 in the second half. She had five three-point plays — two 3-point goals, and three two-point baskets with a free throw.

Hawkins is also the Glacier Peak floor leader, “and when she has the ball she feels like she’s in control,” Hill said. “What a great person to have on your squad. Someone who can dictate the tempo of the game. It’s just nice to have someone like that who can control the flow of the game.”

At Lynnwood H.S.

Glacier Peak1371412—46

Lynnwood71397—36

Glacier Peak—Hawkins 22, Rasmussen 4, Gaffney 2, Hill 1, I. Smith 2, Gere 3, Mensing 5, Fausey 2, Weathersby 5. Lynnwood—Edwards 9, Maza 9, Douglas 3, Cross 7, Evans 2, Ivanov 4, Hayes 0, Wilson 2. 3-point goals—Hawkins 2, Rasmussen 1, Weathersby 1, Maza 3, Ivanov 1. Records—Glacier Peak is 16-5. Lynnwood is 16-4.