Edmonds-Woodway overcomes 1st playoff game jitters

Published 11:18 pm Tuesday, February 16, 2010

EDMONDS — The Edmonds-Woodway girls basketball team lost its opening 4A District 1 playoff game a year ago, and this season’s returning players had suffered with that memory ever since.

“They remember last year when they kind of laid an egg in the first round, and they didn’t want to do that again,” said Edmonds-Woodway coach Duane Hodges. “That’s been on their minds all year.”

Which is maybe why the Warriors “were a little nervous” in the early moments of their 2009-10 postseason opener against Arlington on Tuesday night, he said.

The team’s jitters, combined with a gritty opponent from Arlington, made for a hard-fought first half. But in the second half, Edmonds-Woodway settled down and pulled away for a 63-47 victory, the team’s 20th of the season and 16th in a row since an early-season loss to Meadowdale.

By the final horn it was a one-sided margin. But in the early minutes, Arlington gave the Warriors all they could handle.

“You’ve got to hand it to (the Eagles),” Hodges said. “They executed so well in the halfcourt, and in the first quarter especially. We kind of had an idea what they were going to run, but they just executed so well we were almost powerless to stop it.”

Edmonds-Woodway trailed 14-13 after one period, and did not go ahead to stay until late in the second quarter when guard Alex Kenney dropped in two free throws, putting the Warriors in front 22-20.

Those points turned out to be the start an 11-0 string that Edmonds-Woodway carried into the early minutes of the third quarter. And after Arlington scored a field goal, the Warriors ran off another eight unanswered points for a 17-point margin, 39-22, their biggest of the game.

Yet the Eagles battled back. Trailing 46-32 heading into the fourth quarter, Arlington carved the lead to eight and could have drawn within six, but a shot by guard Quinn Kesselring swirled the rim and rolled out.

The Warriors eased away in the late moments with a succession of free throws.

“I thought we played with a lot of heart,” said Arlington coach Nathan Davis. “We never gave up. We battled through some adversity and came back. We just didn’t quite finish the job.”

Edmonds-Woodway’s Angela Woods led all scorers with 18 points, while teammates Sydney Donaldson added 15 and Ashley Albertson had eight points and 19 rebounds, the latter tying a season high.

Kesselring and Ginny Wilson each had 12 points for the Eagles.

With the victory, Edmonds-Woodway advanced to face Marysville-Pilchuck at 8 p.m. Friday at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. Arlington falls into the loser’s bracket and will take on Kamiak in an 8 p.m. loser-out game Thursday at Marysville-Pilchuck.

At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.

Arlington1461215—47

Edmonds-Woodway13122117—63

Arlington—Abdo 8, Duncan 2, Van Loo 5, Kesselring 12, Grogan 2, Schmuck 6, Wilson 12. Edmonds- Woodway—Kasper 13, Kenney 9, Albertson 8, Donaldson 15, Woods 18. 3-point goals—Abdo 2, Woods 3, Kasper 1, Kenney 1. Records—Arlington 11-10 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 20-1.