Lake Stevens girls basketball overcomes GP to stay alive

Published 9:44 pm Thursday, February 19, 2026

WOODINVILLE — Brian Hill planned for Thursday’s 4A District 1-2 loser-out game against rival Lake Stevens to go a certain way.

The Glacier Peak girls basketball coach would press the Vikings high with a 2-3 zone he hadn’t shown them in their previous two games, both Lake victories. His scheme certainly confused the rival squad, which sat at 28 turnovers, by The Herald’s count, at the final horn.

The scoreboard, however, told another story. No. 2 Lake Stevens (19-3) mustered enough scoring and made sure nothing came easy for No. 4 Glacier Peak (16-7) to keep its season alive with a 54-40 win. The Vikings will take on No. 6 Eastlake on Saturday at noon in a winner-to-state, loser-out game at Bellevue High School.

“It’s tough because all year we’ve taken care of the ball really well. We’ve averaged about 10 turnovers a game,” said Vikings coach Seth Dodge, who admitted Hill’s zone threw his team off. “But we just locked in on the defensive end, the girls were bought into what we needed to do.”

Truly nothing came easy going against Lake Stevens’ defense, as Noelani Tupua (12 points, 13 rebounds), Keira Isabella Tupua (12 points, seven rebounds, four assists) and Kendel Kuehl (four points, nine rebounds) anchored the Vikings. Strong crashes to the offensive glass from guards like Tessa Anastasi (six points, four rebounds) added up as well, as Lake Stevens finished with a whopping 39-15 rebounding advantage.

Though their turnover count was nearly triple that of their average, the Vikings managed to force 17 turnovers themselves. Paired with strong transition defense to limit easy buckets for the Grizzlies, and Dodge’s squad had a recipe for a scrappy win.

That, of course, wasn’t the case in the Vikings’ quarterfinal loss to No. 10 Redmond on Tuesday to land them in this spot.

“We let (Redmond) get open shots and open lanes, so I think that was the biggest difference for us (against Glacier Peak),” Dodge said. “We thought we would be playing in the 7 o’clock semifinal, so we had to really regroup.”

Lake Stevens’ urgency was apparent from the outset, as the Grizzlies didn’t score for the first four and a half minutes of each of the first two frames. Noelani Tupua attributes that early dominance to experience — Lake Stevens has played loser-out district playoff games in each of its last two consecutive runs to state. There’s a certain determination to repeat history.

“We all collectively didn’t think we were finished with our season,” Noelani Tupua said.

Still, GP sophomore star Lily Riechelson managed a team-high 16 points after finding a groove in the post in the second half. Senior guard Zoey Ritter also gave it her all, putting up eight points and five rebounds while disrupting passing lanes in the Grizzlies’ trap.

Off the bat, however, Autumn Swobody, who ended up leading the victors with 13 points, hit two catch-and-shoot triples in a 13-0 start for Lake Stevens. The Grizzlies found themselves tinkering with that deficit all night.

Riechelson reignited the Grizzlies with some solid blocks in help defense to start the second, notching a steal to try to pull closer. But the Vikings’ press, which was also altered to throw off GP, stopped most fastbreaks in their tracks. Lake Stevens took a 30-15 advantage into halftime after a putback buzzer-beater from Noelani Tupua.

Hill tried to reframe the game for his team during the intermission.

“I told them at halftime, we kind of just pushed the panic button too early. There’s a lot of game left, why are we panicking?” said Hill, frustrated with perceived rushed shots from his players. “We weren’t in real control.”

Coming into the second half, GP’s press continued to give the Vikings fits, as Lake Stevens didn’t score a field goal for the first three minutes of the third. When they did get a shot to fall, the scoreboard read 32-20 — the Grizzlies hadn’t taken advantage of the cold spell they had caused.

A strong nine-point frame from Riechelson devastated Lake Stevens’ interior defense. Her quick post-hook off feeds from fellow sophomore post Layla King (five assists) left the Vikings with few answers. Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, her effort was offset by a triple from Keira Isabelle Tupua and some easy baskets for the Vikings on the other end, courtesy of smart extra passes. A quarter wrought with Lake Stevens turnovers and a takeover from Riechelson cut the lead down by just two points as the Vikings led 42-29 with eight minutes to play.

Errant passes and deflections continued to increase Lake Stevens’ turnover total in the fourth. Still, GP never found the easier transition buckets that usually come with takeaways as time ran out on the comeback.

Perhaps it was the emphasis the Grizzlies put on pressing high that left rebounding positioning open for Lake Stevens. Regardless of why it happened, that 39-15 advantage on the boards loomed large by the end of the night. Winning the rebounding margin is never a coincidence for Dodge.

“We talk about it, we do different drills about it, but at the end of the day, we just have girls that are competitive and they want the ball more than anyone else, and it shows on the court,” Dodge said.

For Hill’s squad, which finished fifth at state last season, there’s still plenty to look forward to.

Riechelson will be back as an upperclassman, as will King, as the Grizzlies reload. Including Thursday’s result, Riechelson has learned plenty about leading a varsity squad this season.

“This year taught me a lot of maturity … when I have to do too much, not do too much, and just a lot of leadership too,” Riechelson said.

While the Grizzlies set their sights on next season, Lake Stevens dances on. The Vikings will look to build on a second-round exit from the state tournament last season, but will need to take care of business in that last Saturday loser-out date with Eastlake to get there.

Noelani Tupua has confidence in her squad.

“We’ve been in the same route for like the last two years, so it’s really nothing new.”