YAKIMA — The fifth-seeded Archbishop Murphy girls basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Class 2A state tournament Thursday morning with a 41-29 victory over 11th-seeded North Kitsap at the Yakima SunDome.
The Wildcats (23-2) face top-seeded East Valley of Spokane in Friday’s semifinals. East Valley defeated Lynden 58-38 Thursday morning.
Murphy is in the semifinals for the first time since 2009.
Defense was the key Thursday for the Wildcats, who won despite recording their second-lowest point total of the season. Murphy held North Kitsap to single digits in each quarter, and the Vikings shot just 28 percent from the floor (12-for-43) for the game, including 1-for-7 from 3-point range.
Emily Rodabaugh led Archbishop Murphy with 12 points. She also had eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Megan Dorney added 10 points and six boards, and Julia Lucas had nine points and nine rebounds.
Olivia Selembo led North Kitsap (21-7) with nine points.
