EVERETT — The Archbishop Murphy girls basketball team watched a 14-point halftime lead shrink to four but held on to beat Lynden 47-43 for a first-round victory in the 2A District 1/2 Tournament.
“We had them a little bit rattled in the first half, and I knew they would come storming back,” said Wildcats head coach Mark Bircher.
Archbishop Murphy put pressure on Lynden before the half and it was effective. But despite his sureness that Lynden would not go down easily, Bircher didn’t want to change a game-plan that was working.
After halftime, Lynden made some adjustments to handle the pressure and ran some solid half-court sets. “They are a very very well-coached team. … They started shooting really well, confidence starts building, you could just feel that lead gradually diminishing,” said Bircher.
Forty-seven points was enough to win it, though, and 20 of those points came from Beth Carlson, who also had 19 rebounds, four blocks and two assists.
“Beth was just a warrior tonight. She had two, three girls hanging on her all night,” Bircher said. “I thought that she’s just a trooper. She didn’t force anything, she just battled so tough. Whether it be getting the ball and scoring on the inside or offensive rebounds. She crashed the boards real hard.”
Also strong for the Wildcats was Madison Pollock, who scored 13, and Ana Maher, who added six points and 12 rebounds.
Archbishop Murphy now goes on the road to Burlington-Edison for a semifinal game at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Bircher feels the game against Lynden should be good preparation.
“They are big, they are physical, they crash the boards,” Bircher said of B-E. “It’s at their house. We’re expecting absolutely a very physical game. … This will definitely help us going against Burlington. They both play that physical style. They push you around, they battle and they’re rough.”
At Archibshop Murphy H.S.
Lynden7111312—43
Archibshop Murphy112187—47
Lynden—Taylor VanDalen 2, Maddi Hommes 10, Ashlyn Morgan 5, Kelsey Bouwman 6, Tanna Benson 5, Stephanie Somers 15. Archbishop Murphy—Beth Carlson 20, Gabby Ducheane 0, MaireMichael Carroll 3, Megan Wall 1, Madison Pollock 13, Gemma Miller 4, Anna Maher 6, Alyson Matriotti 0. 3-point goals—Carroll 1, Pollock 1, Benson 1. Records—Lynden 12-8 overall. Archibshop Murphy 17-3.
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