MOUNT VERNON – Poise, poise and more poise.
The Archbishop Murphy Wildcats girls basketball team displayed tons of it to battle back from an early deficit and capture the third and final 2A District 1 state berth with a 43-38 win over the Mount Baker Mountaineers Saturday afternoon at Mount Vernon High School.
Archbishop Murphy’s first-round state tournament game will be Wednesday at the Yakima SunDome.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the first two minutes and 30 seconds, prompting Wildcats coach John Barhanovich to call a full timeout.
“I told them that we are still in this. It is not over by any means. We still have four quarters of basketball to play,” Barhanovich said. “I told them to just keep poised and we will be right back in this.”
The Wildcats battled and sliced into the Mount Baker lead, eventually taking their first lead 31-30 on an Ashley Reinig basket with 6:29 to play in the fourth quarter. Reinig, a senior, finished with four of her seven points in the quarter and had four key steals.
“She did what she had to do at the time we needed her the most,” senior captain Lisa Coate said.
“Ashley came in and stepped up, she was huge down the stretch,” Barhanovich said.
The Wildcats went ahead for good 33-32 on a Coate basket with 3:07 remaining. Coate finished with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Mount Baker closed to 41-38 on a Courtney VanBrocklin 3-pointer with 3.6 seconds to play. VanBrocklin finished with a game-high 18 points.
But Coate sealed the deal with two free throws to send the Wildcats back to state after having been eliminated at district last year by Mt. Baker and Meridian.
“It was a beautiful game,” Barhanovich said of the physical game that had 47 fouls. “It is not how we wanted to play but it shows we can grind it out if we have to.”
“It was a physical battle,” Coate said. “We have focused a lot more on defense in practice so we can feel comfortable in this type of game.”
The Wildcats’ defense stifled Mountaineers point guard Mandi Millman, holding her to seven points. Millman had scored 20 points against the Wildcats on December 14.
“Our goal was to stop No. 4 (Millman),” Barhanovich said. “Lauren Lasswell and Emma Nelson really did an outstanding job on her.”
“We are excited to go to state and I hope we play well,” Coate said of returning to state for the third time in four years.
At Mt. Vernon H.S.
Archbishop Murphy911815-43
Mt. Baker131069-38
Archbishop Murphy-Lasswell 3, Eknes 1, Coate 17, Burns 9, Smith 6, Reinig 7. Mt. Baker-VanBrocklin 18, Millman 7, Campbell 4, George 1, Buchanan 2, Phillips 2, Tyler 4. 3-point goals-Tyler 1, VanBrocklin 2, Lasswell 1. Records-Archbishop Murphy 19-5 overall. Mt. Baker 16-7.
King’s 63, Lynden Christian 55: At Mount Vernon, junior Danielle Clausen and senior Sara Mosiman each scored a game-high 22 points to lead King’s to its sixth straight district title and 13th straight state tournament appearance. Clausen also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for the Knights in the 2A District 1 title game.
At Mt. Vernon H.S.
King’s14151420-63
Lynden Christian916723-55
King’s-Clauson 22, Faidley 4, Mosiman 22, Strand 12, Thompson 2, Trautmann 1. Lynden Christian-Brandsma 2, Ryan 6, DeBoer 10, Berendsen 13, Reed 14. 3-point goals-Faidley 1, Clausen 1, Ryan 1, DeBoer 2, Reed 1. Records-King’s 22-2 overall. Lynden Christian 22-2.
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