Jackson protects its house

Published 11:30 pm Saturday, February 23, 2008

MILL CREEK — Just in case her teammates forgot what was at stake Saturday night, Kristi Kingma reminded them with a pre-game message.

“I walked into the locker room before the game and I wrote a little quote on the board. It said, ‘No one comes into our house and takes down our net,’” Kingma said.

She was right.

Fueled by Kingma’s career-high 36 points and a late momentum-changing 3-point shot by Erin Feeney, Jackson High School beat Lake Stevens 65-56 in the Class 4A District 1 girls basketball championship game.

Jackson (22-1) won the district title on its home court for the second consecutive year. This one was particularly meaningful for the team’s five seniors, who were undefeated in their gym this season.

“For the seniors especially it’s a fabulous moment. You couldn’t ask for anything more. It just gives us such confidence going into the (state) tournament,” Jackson coach Jeannie Thompson said as the Timberwolves celebrated their victory by cutting the net off one of the rims.

Both teams had already qualified for next week’s state tourney at the Tacoma Dome. Jackson, ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press 4A poll, is the district’s No. 1 seed. Fourth-ranked Lake Stevens (21-2) is the No. 2 seed. First-round state-tourney pairings will be determined today.

Kingma, a University of Washington recruit, scored 27 points in the middle quarters. She helped keep Jackson in it, and Feeney, a sophomore guard, ignited a decisive, game-ending 11-0 scoring burst.

Feeney (12 points) drained her fourth 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 8 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. It gave Jackson a 57-56 lead and Lake Stevens didn’t score another point.

For Feeney, it came down to preparation.

“I just practice so much,” she said. “I spend a lot of time on my 3-point shot.”

It shows.

Hounded by Jackson’s intense defense, Lake Stevens committed 10 turnovers in the final quarter.

“We were trying to put some pressure on them all night and we finally got our full-court press working, and we were able to keep them off the boards,” Thompson said.

Lake Stevens had a major size advantage with senior posts Karri Gallagher, who is 6-foot-3, and Brittany Tri (6-1). They combined to score 37 points, and Gallagher grabbed 18 rebounds.

Senior guard Mary Ochiltree scored 16 points for Lake Stevens, and senior point guard Leah Tate tallied 10 assists.

“Karri and Brittany are just awesome, and Mary can get them the ball,” said Kingma (10 rebounds). “They’re tough to stop. We couldn’t actually stop them. At times it was like, ‘Oh my gosh. How are we ever going to beat them?’”

Before it was too late, Jackson found a way to increase its winning streak to 21 games.

Feeney’s long-range baskets were killers, Lake Stevens coach Randall Edens said.

“She hit some big shots, and ultimately that’s the difference. (Kingma is always) going to get her points,” Edens said.

Kingma (17 first-half points) and Ochiltree (12) provided most of the offense for their respective teams in the first two quarters. Lake Stevens led by as many as six points in the second period before settling for a 27-26 edge by halftime.

Ochiltree scored four consecutive points to put Lake Stevens on top 23-17 with 1:45 to go in the first half.

But Kingma scored nine points in the final 88 seconds, including a pull-up 3-point shot that swished through the net less than 2 seconds before the opening half ended.

At Jackson H.S.

Lake Stevens7201811—56

Jackson10162217—65

Lake Stevens: Ochiltree 16, Tri 15, Tate 3, Personius, Gallagher 22, Warbis, Bostwick. Jackson: Bruns 6, Sam 3, Kingma 36, Feeney 12, Todd 2, O’Neal 2, Kirton 4. 3-point goals-Kingma 3, Feeney 4. Records-Lake Stevens 21-2 overall. Jackson 22-1.

Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.