YAKIMA — The Archbishop Murphy girls basketball team outscored East Valley (Spokane) by 12 points in the fourth quarter to post a come-from-behind 56-48 win Friday in a 2A Hardwood Classic semifinal contest at the Yakima SunDome.
The Wildcats will play W.F. West at 5 p.m. Saturday in the tournament’s championship game.
“We were down by 12 a couple of times, so to bounce back when things weren’t going well was huge. That was a victory in itself,” said Archbishop Murphy coach Cassie Snyder. “I’m extremely proud of (the players) for that.
“Their energy is up, and they’re excited and ready to go (for Saturday’s game). We didn’t play like we wanted to against W.F. West at state last year, and we get another chance against them on a much bigger stage.”
The Knights led 26-20 at halftime and took a four-point lead into the fourth quarter, but Archbishop Murphy outscored East Valley (Spokane) 22-10 in the final eight minutes.
“We adjusted at halftime and went to more of a 3-2 zone,” Snyder said. “We got some big stops, and then we were able to convert offensively. We were able to pound it inside and knock some shots down.”
After shooting 36 percent from the field in the first half, the Wildcats made 52.4 percent of their shots in the last two quarters.
Julia Lucas had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Maddie Hill added 13 points and three steals for Archbishop Murphy.
“(What we saw from Julia tonight) was what we were wanting to see from her all year, to be honest,” Snyder said. “She was aggressive inside and finished (shots) and was a beast on the boards. She did a great job.”
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