MUKILTEO — Earlier in the season, Kamiak edged Monroe by two points in a girls basketball game that featured five ties and 21 lead changes.
For three quarters, it looked as though the drama of Wednesday night’s game between the two teams would surpass that of the first game.
The Knights and Bearcats were tied nine times and there were 17 lead changes in the game’s first 24 minutes. The last lead change, a 3-pointer by Monroe’s Alex Alexander with 21 seconds to go in the third quarter proved to be the game’s last.
The Bearcats pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 65-56 victory.
“More than anything, I think it’s the confidence we’ve been building along the way,” Monroe head coach Matt Chalfant said of his team’s ability to pull away in the fourth quarter. “I think it started back in the Mountlake Terrace tournament when we beat Garfield and we beat Inglemoor. The girls started to understand that we can beat quality opponents and then their confidence just started rising. I think that’s helped us in these close games.”
Monroe’s win has the Bearcats tied with Snohomish for second place in the Wesco 4A, each with a 6-2 record. The Panthers and Bearcats are each one game behind Lake Stevens, which is 7-1. The Vikings’ lone league loss came to Monroe, which also has a win over Snohomish.
Both Kamiak and Monroe are very much alive for a league championship, but with the win, the Bearcats control their own destiny. With wins over Lake Stevens and Snohomish already, winning their remaining six league games would mean a league championship for Monroe.
Chalfant knew Wednesday’s game wouldn’t be easy. The games between the Knights and the Bearcats have come down to the wire the last two seasons.
“Both teams are really athletic and really fast, so our game plan coming into tonight was to try to actually limit their possessions,” Chalfant said. “We know that they want to get up and down the floor. We didn’t press. We just sat back in our man-to-man defense to try to get stops. The second half was great. We gave up 35 (points) in the first half. I think it was only 18, maybe 20 points in the second, so the adjustments we made at halftime were huge.”
Chalfant was close, the Bearcats gave up 21 points after halftime. Perhaps more importantly, they gave up just one 3-pointer to a team that likes to shoot from long range.
“I think we focused at halftime of really changing where our hand placement was,” Chalfant said. “We really told the girls, ‘hand in the face, contest that shot.’”
The Bearcats outscored the Knights 32-21 in the second half after trailing 35-33 at halftime.
Monroe sophomore Jadynn Alexander led the Bearcats with 18 points, 13 of which came in the first half.
“Jadynn, I couldn’t be more proud of her performance tonight,” Chalfant said. “She’s come a long way. She’s had some adversity this season. She’s really learning. She has all the greatest athletic potential in the world. Everybody sees it, but I think it’s the mental part of the game that’s still growing and it’s getting better every day.”
Not far behind Alexander was Monroe’s senior point guard Kylee Ferreira, who finished with 17 points including three 3-pointers.
“Kylee is our glue of our team,” Chalfant said. “She’s our emotional leader. She runs the floor and sets the tone for us. She did a great job.”
Both players benefitted from Monroe’s execution on the offensive end. Chalfant could be heard from the sideline for much of the game encouraging his team to run through their offensive sets and when his team got the shot he wanted them to take, Chalfant was clearly pleased.
“We really believe in putting the defense in conflict where they’re going to have to choose how to guard us,” Chalfant said. “The girls are getting better every day at reading how the defense is playing us. Based upon that, we’re going to get our looks.”
After winning four straight games and eight of their last nine, confidence is high for the Bearcats, but Chalfant isn’t looking too far down the road.
“We’ve got goals of getting better every single day,” Chalfant said. “We talk about our next opponent. I know it sounds cliche and you hear the Seahawks talk about it and Russell Wilson, but we truly believe it and buy into that because if we don’t take care of tomorrow the things that we want down the road aren’t going to happen.”
At Kamiak H.S.
Monroe 18 15 16 16 — 65
Kamiak 19 16 11 10 — 56
Monroe—Kylee Ferreira 17, Corrina Roppo 0, Jadynn Alexander 18, Emily Donnelly 5, Katie Piland 0, Hannah Drivstuen 5, Alex Alexander 7, Amber Van Brunt 11, Loryn Moore 2. Kamiak—Grace Hamill 5, Alexie Morris 2, Sarah Payne 24, Tylor Adcock 2, Jenny Stoltz 3, Katelyn Huguenin 2, Jamie Beirne 7, Emily Pillman 6, Aliea Marrero 5, Kaiya Larsen 0. 3-point goals—J. Alexander 2, Ferreira 3, Drivstuen 1, A. Alexander 1, Hamill 1, Payne 2, Pillman 1. Records—Monroe 6-2 league, 10-4 overall. Kamiak 5-3, 8-6.
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
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