MT. VERNON — It only shows up as two points in the scorebook, but Archbishop Murphy senior post Savannah Fletcher’s layup with 7.6 seconds remaining in the Wildcats’ 2A District 1 winner-to-state semifinal game Saturday night was worth much more.
Fletcher’s layup, in which the 6-foot-2 post raced down the court to corral a miss for a put-back, helped Archbishop Murphy secure a 52-47 win over Squalicum and book a second consecutive trip to the 2A state tournament for the Wildcats.
Ahead 50-47 with 31.2 seconds remaining, Archbishop Murphy head coach John Barhanovich switched to a man-to-man, half-court trap defense in an attempt to fluster Squalicum. The Storm (15-6), the Northwest League’s second-seeded team, worked the ball around searching for a good look, but senior Taylor Ulrich’s 3-point attempt was heavily contested and partially blocked allowing a Murphy fast-break and Fletcher’s game-clinching basket.
“We gambled a little (with the man-to-man defense late in the game),” Barhanovich said. “… I think it caused a little confusion on what they were going to do. If they had scored, we had a play set up … but I think it threw them off a little.”
Barhanovich said Fletcher’s hustle should provide a good lesson for the younger players on his roster.
“That’s making an effort from one end to the other,” Barhanovich said.
Fletcher, Archbishop Murphy’s second-leading scorer with a 10.6 points per game average, finished with 16 points as the team used a high-low offense to give Fletcher opportunities close to the basket.
Squalicum hit seven 3-pointers, including four from Ulrich, but failed to convert 12 free throws that would have made a marked difference. The Storm made 10 of 22 free throws, including three of seven in the fourth quarter.
Ulrich and guard Kortney Grattic scored 14 points apiece for the Storm.
Archbishop Murphy guard Shelby Lyman hit four 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. Lyman, who will play basketball for and attend Cornell University on an academic scholarship, connected with on a 3-pointer with 1:31 remaining on the clock to give the Wildcats a 50-46 lead.
“Coach John (Barhanovich) has a lot of confidence in me as a shooter,” Lyman said. “It was nice to get some to go down (after a sub-par shooting performance against Anacortes in the first round).”
The Wildcats, last year’s district champions, play at 8 p.m. Friday for another district crown.
Sam Pettinger, a University of the Pacific (Stockton, Calif.) recruit, finished with seven points and Nickole Bartholomew, a 5-foot-4 guard added eight points while holding Squalicum’s 5-foot-11 sophomore Sarah Stackhouse to five points, all in the first quarter. Stackhouse averages 9.1 points per game.
Maddie Horne scored 13 points for the Storm, who held a 40-39 lead entering the fourth quarter.
“This was a good game for us to be in because we haven’t been in a lot of close games lately,” Barhanovich said. “… It’s nice that we’ve got that (state tournament berth) wrapped up … it gives us a week to prepare.”
At Mt. Vernon H.S.
Squalicum1510157—47
Murphy1021813—52
Squalicum—Grattic 14, Ulrich 14, Horne 13, Stackhouse 5, Vlosich 1, Kaui 0. Archbishop Murphy—B. Carlson 2, Lyman 15, Bartholomew 8, Pettinger 7, Fletcher 16, Rasmussen 2, M. Carlson 2. 3-pointers—Ulrich 4, Horne 2, Stackhouse 1, Lyman 4, Bartholomew 2. Records—Squalicum 15-6. Archbishop Murphy 20-2.
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