LAKE OSWEGO — The Lynnwood girls basketball team is known to put up a lot of points in its contests.
But it’s the Royals’ defense that has helped them make a deep run at the Nike Interstate Shootout.
Lynnwood’s defense forced 14 turnovers in the first half and didn’t allow an opposing player to score over nine points as the Royals defeated West Linn 65-38 in the semifinals of the Nike Interstate Shootout Monday night at Lake Oswego High School.
The Royals will face South Salem in the championship game of the Swoosh bracket Tuesday at 8 p.m.
“The key thing for us is our defense,” said Lynnwood head coach Everett Edwards. “We’re playing good defense. (The opposing teams) are struggling with our pressure. We’ve pretty much pressed every single game.”
Lynnwood built a 16-4 lead after the first quarter and used a 13-0 run that spanned from the end of the first quarter to the start of the second to increase their lead to 36-14 at halftime.
“We caused several turnovers in the first half — our pressure kind of got to them,” Edwards said.
The team from West Linn, Oregon opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run to get to within 38-23, but Mikayla Pivec scored nine of her game-high 16 points in the third to help Lynnwood start to pull away from the Lions.
Jordyn Edwards scored 15 points and sophomore post Kelsey Rogers added 12 for Lynnwood, which improved to 8-0 this season.
The Royals, who have outscored their opponents by an average of 23.6 in the tournament, will face South Salem in the tournament’s championship game. The high-scoring Saxons (8-1) have won their three games at the Nike Interstate Shootout by an average of 23.3 points and held the No. 3 spot in Oregon’s 6A coaches poll going into the tournament.
South Salem is led by Oregon State commit Katie McWilliams, as well as Jordan Woodvine and sophomore point guard Evina Westbrook.
“They played right before we did and they blew out the team that they played,” Edwards said. “They’re ranked (high) in the coaches poll. They’ve got a real good team. We’re excited to play one of the top-ranked teams in Oregon.”
At Lake Oswego H.S.
West Linn410177—38
Lynnwood16201514—65
Lynnwood—Madison Eyer 0, Reilly Walsh 6, Monty Cooper 9, Jordyn Edwards 15, Mikayla Pivec 16, Sarah Grant 2, Kelsey Rogers 12, Kaprice Boston 2, Taylor Fahey 2, Dani Hayes 1. West Linn—Kennedi Byram 5, Caitlin Malvar 2, Lexi Pritchard 2, Kenndey Fulcher 9, Taylor Enders 6, Courteney Landis 5, Daria Ruediger 2, Sidney Kolasinski 5, Tia Wheeler 2. 3-point goals—Edwards 3, Byram 1, Landis 1, Kolasinski 1. Records—Lynnwood 8-0 overall. West Linn 5-3.
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