TACOMA — Although their season ended a day sooner and much differently than they expected, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors held their heads high.
A few minutes after emerging from the locker room following their loser-out defeat in the Tacoma Dome on Friday, members of the Edmonds-Woodway High
School girls basketball team were remarkably positive, refusing to let back-to-back losses in the Class 4A state tournament overshadow what really matters, long after the final buzzer blares.
“We did what we could and we played as hard as we could,” E-W senior forward Ashley Albertson said, “and because of that we’re holding our heads high.”
About 17 hours after losing against Lewis and Clark in the quarterfinals, Edmonds-Woodway endured a season-ending 53-52 loss on the same court versus the Bellarmine Prep Lions. E-W led 52-49 but Lions guard Simonne Potts — who had a huge fourth quarter — scored the last four points of the game.
Potts’ tough jump shot in the paint put Bellarmine Prep (22-6) on top 53-52 with 4.5 seconds to go. On the inbounds play, Albertson made a long baseball pass that was tipped to Madeline Kasper, but her layup try was blocked out of bounds by Bellarmine Prep’s Sarah Hartwell.
With 1.1 on the clock, Alex Kenney’s pass from the baseline into the paint was knocked away by Bellarmine Prep. Game over, and season over for senior-loaded E-W (24-6), which placed fifth at state in 2010 and expected to win it all in 2011.
Senior forwards Sydney Donaldson and Angela Woods scored 16 points apiece for E-W. It was the final time playing together for the team’s five seniors, including multi-year starters Donaldson (five assists, four rebounds, three blocked shots, one steal), Woods, Alex Kenney (10 points, two 3-pointers, five rebounds) and the always-hustling Albertson, who tallied 12 rebounds, six points, six assists and five steals. The team’s other senior, reserve guard Amia Nash, scored two points and as usual provided great speed and intensity on defense.
Leading by two points, 24-22, entering the third quarter, E-W erupted on offense early in the third quarter and went on top 36-25. The Warriors appeared to be in control. But after taking a 44-36 advantage into the fourth, they went cold and Bellarmine Prep rallied. Potts, who scored eight points on four baskets in the paint over the final 6 minutes, was the primary culprit. She finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and was one of four double-digit scorers for Bellarmine Prep, which outscored E-W 17-8 in the fourth quarter.
“We all waited for our run to come,” Woods said, “but it never really happened.”
In general, E-W played better against Bellarmine Prep than it did in a 61-52 loss against Lewis and Clark on Thursday.
“We realized that we didn’t play to our team potential (in the quarterfinals) and that was kind of our focus (on Friday),” Albertson said.
Even though they lost again, they went out with effort that made their coach proud.
“It’s fun working with good young people,” second-year E-W coach Duane Hodges said. “Someone asked me one time if I have any attitude problems (on the team). I was taken aback because we’ve had virtually no attitude problems.”
In fact, the players always had a way of instantly boosting Hodges’ attitude.
“I tell them probably once a week,” Hodges said, “that the best part of my day is walking into the gym for practice.”
Asked about her favorite memories of playing hoops in an E-W uniform, Albertson said:
“Definitely the fact that we’ve all grown together to be like a family. We all had really great times together, and even in the hardest of times we’ve always been able to pick each other up.”
Sure enough, after their season ended in the T-Dome, the Warriors picked each other up and proudly reflected on another incredible season.
At the Tacoma Dome
Bellarmine Prep 11 11 14 17 — 53
Edmonds-Woodway 8 16 20 8 — 52
Bellarmine Prep–Beardemphl 3, Holmes 10, Potts 12, Christian, Hartwell 11, Price 10, Petty 7. Edmonds-Woodway–Kasper, Eck 2, Nash 2, Kenney 10, Albertson 6, Donaldson 16, Woods 16. 3-point goals–Beardemphl 1, Holmes 2, Kenney 2, Woods 2. Records–Bellarmine Prep 22-6. Edmonds-Woodway 24-6.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
