MARYSVILLE – The first rule of holes is as old as dirt: When you are in one stop digging.
Dan Bates / The Herald
And when the hole is as cavernous as a missing 6-foot-6 inch McDonald’s High School All-American, it’s imperative to find a way to fill it up pronto.
Minus the suspended Kirsten Thompson, a trio of super sophomores shoveled the Monroe Bearcats past the Jackson Timberwolves 64-52 in a loser-out Class 4A District 1 girls basketball game at the Marysville-Pilchuck High gym Wednesday night.
Sarah Morton, Chelsey Drivstuen and Keena Hopkins ensured the Bearcats (20-3) – who have endured an emotional two weeks unrelated to the Thompson situation – would survive to meet Lake Stevens (14-9) in a winner-to-state game at 6 p.m. Friday at M-P.
The Arizona State-bound Thompson was suspended for at least one game as a result of an incident that occurred in the waning seconds of last Saturday’s 50-47 loss to Meadowdale.
Monroe coach Alan Dickson said that Thompson’s status for Friday’s game will be determined after he meets with Monroe Athletic Director Matt Ishler today.
“Maybe this will be good for the kids because they’ve all bonded together,” Dickson said. “Kirsten’s learned from this and her teammates have learned.”
In the absence of Thompson’s 15.8 points and 10 rebounds per game, the crafty Morton emerged as the primary catalyst for Monroe.
After Jackson’s Michelle Addington – who scored all 11 of Jackson’s fourth quarter points – made three free throws to bring the Timberwolves to within 53-49 with three minutes, 37 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Morton essentially took over the game.
First, she drove into the key to bank in a nifty layin. On Monroe’s next opportunity she scored on an off-balance left-handed jump shot in the lane.
“My teammates said ‘Just take it you’ve got it,’ ” Morton said of the turn of events that provided Monroe a 57-49 cushion with 1:50 showing on the clock.
On Jackson’s next possession Morton added a key blocked shot to her spectacular night, which included 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
“I babied her the first half of the year,” Dickson said, noting that Morton, nursing a knee injury, was not even able to fully participate in practices until January. Now at full strength, she’s a little scary.
Hopkins added 11 points, four assists, four steals, three rebounds and unrelenting defense to the Bearcat cause. She scored eight points in a first-half that ended with Monroe leading 32-26.
“Don’t you love her?” Dickson asked about the four-sport star who excels in basketball, soccer, fastpitch softball and lacrosse.
Chelsey Drivstuen scored eight of her 15 points in the third quarter, including four during a 10-0 run that led to a 47-34 Monroe lead with 3:10 remaining in the period. She added seven rebounds.
Marjani Muhammad, a senior, buried a pair of 3-pointers during the run and finished with 10 points.
Down 49-41 entering the fourth quarter Jackson, which saw its season end with a 17-6 record, battled back behind Addington (15 points) who made five free throws and a pair of 3-pointers in the period.
Sam McCracken’s 18 points and 11 rebounds also helped keep Jackson in the fray, as did the Timberwolves 13-for-13 free throw shooting effort.
Kristi Kingma added 12 points for Jackson, including six on a trio of silky-smooth jump shots in the first half.
Jordyn Battle and Dani Drivstuen added six points each to the balanced Monroe attack.
“I wanted an all-out effort from everybody and I think I got that,” Dickson said.
At Marysville
Jackson12141511-52
Monroe15171715-64
Jackson-Kingma 12, Rockenstire 2, Brun 5, Addington 15, McCracken 18. Monroe-Tona 1, Battle 6, Morton 15, C. Drivstuen 15, D. Drivstuen 6, Muhammad 10, Hopkins 11. 3-point goals-Brun 1, Addington 2, Muhammad 2. Records-Jackson 17-6, Monroe 20-3.
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