Lynnwood girls win bracket at Nike tourney

Published 10:41 pm Tuesday, December 30, 2014

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — The Lynnwood girls basketball team is roughly halfway through its season.

And the Royals are hoping the second half goes just as well as the first nine games have gone.

Lynnwood continued its impressive start to the season by sweeping its opponents in the Nike Interstate Shootout at Lake Oswego High School in Oregon. The Royals defeated South Salem 59-38 to win the Swoosh bracket of the prestigious tournament late Tuesday night.

“We got everything we wanted out of this tournament,” said Lynnwood head coach Everett Edwards. “We were able to play against new teams with minimal time to prepare. We were able to face adversity and come out on top. The first half of the season couldn’t have gone any better. We’re 9-0 got some good experience down here in Oregon and we’re going to head back to Washington and try to continue to play good basketball.”

After a close first half, Lynnwood used a 19-9 advantage in the third quarter to pull away from the Saxons heading into the final period. Kelsey Rogers scored six points in the opening minutes of the period to increase the Royals’ lead to double digits as Lynnwood opened up a 51-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Lynnwood wing Mikayla Pivec did a little bit of everything for the Royals. Pivec, a 5-foot-10 junior who finished with 24 points, was a strong post presence and even made a 3-pointer to help Lynnwood pull away in the contest.

“Mikayla’s a great player. Our team fits her style of play perfectly,” Edwards said. “If you can dribble the ball, shoot the ball and pass the ball you’re going to excel in our style of play and Mikayla does all of those things perfectly.”

South Salem missed its first five shots as Lynnwood took a 7-0 lead early. Erin McNally capped a 6-0 Saxons run with 2:22 left in the second quarter to bring South Salem to within two, 23-21.

But that’s as close as the Saxons would get.

“We started off the game very well and they made a heck of a run in the second quarter,” Edwards said. “They were hitting their threes and making their run. When they cut it to two we got the next six points and kept that momentum going into the second half.”

Lynnwood went 4-0 at the Nike Interstate Shootout, which features some of the top teams from Oregon and Washington, and improved to 9-0 overall.

Rogers finished with 14 points and Monty Cooper and Jordyn Edwards added eight points apiece for the Royals.

“All the teams we played are good teams,” Edwards said. “It’s a great sign that at this point in the season. I consider this the halfway mark and we’re 0-0. We know just because we won this tournament there are no givens. Theirs no guarantees we can make it out of district tournament. It’s very competitive. We’re going to remain humble and take nothing for granted.”

Lynnwood outscored its three opponents in the tournament by 22.3 points per game, including South Salem (8-2), which was the No. 3 team in the Oregon 6A coaches poll going into the tournament. The Saxons had outscored their previous three opponents by 23.3 points in the Nike Interstate Shootout but South Salem struggled against the full-court pressure from Lynnwood.

The Royals held Katie McWilliams, an Oregon State University commit, to five points in the game.

“They were a very good team,” Edwards said. “They have a Pac-12 player who is 6-foot-1 and legit. They have a very good team. But so do we and I just think our style of play affected them.”

Lynnwood was the first team from Washington to win the Nike Interstate Shootout in awhile, which was a point of pride for the Royals.

“It’s huge,” Edwards said. “In the Lake Oswego High School gym they have all the banners and it’s been since 1995 since a team from Washington (Lake Washington High School) won it. I’m not a math major, but that’s a long time.”

At Lake Oswego H.S.

South Salem71798—38

Lynnwood1319198—59

Lynnwood–Madison Eyer 0, Reilly Walsh 5, Monty Cooper 8, Jordyn Edwards 8, Mikayla Pivec 24, Sarah Grant 0, Kelsey Rogers 14, Kaprice Boston 0, Taylor Fahey 0, Dani Hayes 0. South Salem–Katie McWilliams 5, Jordan Woodvine 11, Victoria Swanson 3, Evina Westbrook 6, Dani Harley 6, Simone Leaks 5, Erin McNally 2. 3-point goals–Walsh 1, Edwards 1, Pivec 1, McWilliams 1, Swanson 1, Harley 2. Records–Lynnwood 9-0 overall. South Salem 8-2.