SEATTLE — Even when her jump shot is off a bit, Eryn Jones can control a game.
The senior guard shot just 6-for-18 from the field Thursday, but Jones’ perfect 13-for-13 performance at the free-throw line helped the Meadowdale girls basketball team avoid elimination at the Class 3A state tournament.
Jones scored a game-high 25 points and made all six of her fourth-quarter foul shots, guiding the Meadowdale Mavericks to a 72-63 victory over Bainbridge in a loser-out consolation bracket game at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Forward Brittany Gray had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Bainbridge (19-9), which got within 68-63 with 70 seconds to go. Jones clinched it for Meadowdale (22-5) by sinking four foul shots down the stretch.
Although she was 0-for-6 from 3-point range, Jones was on target all morning at the foul line.
“I know free throws could win or lose a game. If I would have missed some of those, who knows what the game would have been like?” said Jones, a Portland State University recruit.
Jones also tallied five assists, five steals and three rebounds for Meadowdale. She got crucial help from teammates Danica Coronacion (11 points, three rebounds, two steals), Hanna Fjortoft (10 points, four boards) and Anna Molitor (nine points, five boards).
The Mavericks play Fort Vancouver (18-8) at 9 a.m. today in another loser-out game at Bank of America Arena. The winner advances to the fifth/eighth-place game Saturday.
Meadowdale beat Bainbridge for the second time this season. The Mavericks beat the Spartans by 18 points in late December.
“I knew it was going to be close,” Meadowdale coach Dan Taylor said. Bainbridge coach Penny Gienger “is a really good coach … and she gets the most out of (her) players.”
In a fast-paced, high-scoring first half, Meadowdale pulled away in the second quarter and led 44-35 by halftime. Gray (14 first-half points) scored from the right post to get Bainbridge within 26-25, but Meadowdale finished the second quarter with an 18-10 scoring run.
A second-half defensive adjustment by Molitor helped slow down Gray, a strong 5-foot-11 junior who averages about 19 points per game. Molitor began positioning herself in front of Gray earlier, Taylor said.
The strategy seemed to work perfectly. In the second half Gray scored just four points and was two of nine from the field.
Meadowdale was careful to not underestimate Bainbridge, which lost 78-21 Wednesday in a first-round game versus top-ranked Auburn Riverside.
“We knew they were going to come out hard, obviously,” Jones said. “It’s state, so everyone’s (giving) their best right now.”
Jones, who had a team-high 12 points in the first half, had a part in Meadowdale’s last seven points of the second period. She scored four on driving layins, including one she created with a steal, and assisted on Coronacion’s 3-pointer from the right corner.
The 3, Coronacion’s only long-range attempt of the game, dropped through the hoop with 1 second remaining in the half, giving Meadowdale a nine-point cushion.
The Mavericks led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but their 21-14 second-quarter effort turned out to be a game-changing spurt.
At Hec Edmundson Pavilion
Bainbridge21141513—63
Meadowdale23211513—72
Bainbridge—Sharar, M. Farrar, E. Farrar 8, Michael 6, McKenzie, Gray 18, Vincent 15, Thomas 4, Wood 12. Meadowdale—Coronacion 11, J. Fjortoft 2, Jones 25, Carlow 4, H. Fjortoft 10, Molitor 9, Beyer 2, Streit 7, Nugent, Lillquist, Zickefoose 2, O’Neill. 3-point goals—E. Farrar 2, Coronacion 1, H. Fjortoft 3, Streit 1. Records—Bainbridge 19-9 overall. Meadowdale 22-5.
Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
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