King’s girls basketball breezes into 1A State quarterfinals

Published 1:33 am Saturday, February 28, 2026

BOTHELL — Through the first 10 minutes of their 1A State opening round matchup against Lakeside (9 Mile) at North Creek High School on Friday, it seemed King’s girls basketball would roll to an easy victory. However, after King’s took a 22-9 lead early in the second quarter, Lakeside strung together a couple big shots and a steal to bring it to 22-18 with just over five minutes left before halftime.

There’s some pressure that comes with being the top seed in any state tournament, but King’s confidence never wavered. All the team needed was a quick reset.

“I think it was kind of just like, ‘Ok guys, we’re fine. Just settle down,’” senior Kaitlin Cramer said, relaying the conversation between her teammates. “‘Do what we do.’ We’ve been doing it for, what? Four months, three months now? So we know what we’re doing and we just had to focus on that.”

From that moment, King’s did what they do, going on a 16-0 run entering the final minute of the half, where Lakeside made two free throws to put the score at 38-20 entering halftime. King’s did not allow a made field goal through the entirety of the run heading into the break.

From there, it was all she wrote.

The top-seeded Knights (21-4) never allowed the No. 8 seed Eagles (14-6) to get back within 16 points en route to a 61-38 victory, securing a spot in the quarterfinals and bypassing the Round of 12.

“We’re trying to win the state championship,” senior Kaleo Anderson said. “And playing the kind of defense we were playing and playing the way we were (in the second quarter), we knew we weren’t going to do that, so we had to just get everyone together and then refocus on what we’re trying to do, and I think that got everyone fired up.”

Cramer led the Knights with 23 points and seven rebounds, and Anderson added 21 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Junior Kira Mace led Lakeside with 13 points.

After reaching the 1A State Championship last season and losing 55-37 to Bellevue Christian, King’s is hoping to one-up themselves this season. Coach Dan Taylor believes this year’s squad executes the game plan better than last year’s, and that everyone is operating on the same page.

He also hasn’t needed Anderson — The Herald’s reigning Area Player of the Year — to be Superwoman every night.

“I think (Anderson’s) done a great job of getting more people involved and making everybody else better,” Taylor said. “We haven’t had to depend on her as much. As we saw, (Cramer) shined tonight, and so between them two being a one-two punch, we can be very scary moving forward.

“So I was super proud of both of them feeding off each other. I was proud of our other role players stepping up when they could. Molly (Kyler) and Eleanor (Gaydos) hit some big shots, and so if we continue to do that, I think we’ll be fine.”

For Anderson, that effort was deliberate, especially after losing key pieces from last year’s state finalist team.

“This year, we just really had a focus on getting everyone involved,” Anderson said. “And making sure that everyone knows their role and what they can do, so that they thrive at it. Especially during state, because you never know who could be on or off in state games, and who can go on runs.”

The first example of that shared involvement came on the first basket of the game, when Anderson kicked out to Gaydos for a 3-pointer to open the scoring. The sophomore returned the favor with a dish to Anderson inside on the next possession, and Cramer drew a foul on an offensive rebound to quickly put King’s ahead 7-0.

Defensively, King’s zone created two turnovers out of traps on the first few possessions, which set the tone early.

“I think that’s typically how it goes,” Cramer said. “I mean, I think we thrive off of playing good defense, and that’s what really gets the ball going on offense. So I think at first it was just like, ‘Okay, first state game, not everyone’s been to the (Yakima Valley SunDome), not everyone’s been in this position.’ So I think just knocking off a couple of those jitters and then just remembering what we do and what we thrive off of.”

The Knights cooled off a bit in the first quarter, but Anderson helped increase the lead to close out the quarter. After hitting a jump shot to make it 12-6 with about 1:10 left before the second, Anderson picked up a steal, and Cramer knocked down a 3-pointer off an inbound on the following possession. Mace scored a layup for the Eagles, but Anderson swished a long 3 with six seconds left to make it 18-8 after one quarter.

Once King’s seized control of the game in the second quarter, Anderson and Cramer continued to carry the offense through the second half. The duo combined for each of their team’s 11 points in the third quarter, with Anderson cruising through defenders in transition off a steal to make it 46-26 in the final three minutes of the frame before Cramer hit a 3 to push it to 49-28 with a minute left.

That trend continued in the fourth quarter, as both seniors continued to attack the basket while the entire team limited chances on the other end.

“We just needed to continue to be tenacious on defense, because that’s where we feed our energy from,” Cramer said. “We weren’t hitting in the first, and we kind of just talked about, ‘We need to keep going downhill, get contact. On defense, don’t foul as much, and just get back.’”

As Cramer and Anderson took care of business, Taylor made an effort to mix in more playing time for the younger reserves in order to prepare them for another deep run. With the first win under their belt, all focus lies on staying healthy and engaged before heading out to Yakima.

“I think a couple of (the younger players) have grown and gained more confidence and everything,” Taylor said. “I’m trying to get their feet wet, even in this game. They played in some big games that normal young girls wouldn’t play because we didn’t play any league games (in the Emerald Sound Conference). So by putting them out there and throwing them in the fire, (it) gave them an opportunity to see what the caliber of play is out there, and I thought that they held their own.

“Whether it’s short times, short minutes, spot minutes, or long extended times, I just want them to not let us miss a beat at all.”