LAKE STEVENS — When Alona Personius gets on a roll, she makes long-range shooting look as easy as sinking an uncontested layup.
Personius, a Lake Stevens High School senior, said she once made seven 3-point baskets in a select-team game. She didn’t quite match that number Friday, but her torrid shooting helped propel the unbeaten Lake Stevens girls basketball team to yet another victory.
Personius knocked down five 3-pointers and scored 13 of her game-high 16 points in the second half to lead the Vikings to a 47-36 triumph over Oak Harbor in a Western Conference North Division battle.
After Lake Stevens fell behind 22-16 early in the third quarter, Personius, a 5-foot-9 guard, made a 3-pointer that kick-started a pivotal 16-0 scoring run. She helped finish the key burst with another long-range shot and an assist to teammate Meghan Warbis.
Lake Stevens was in command the rest of the way and improved its division record to 6-0 (10-0 overall).
“The first three minutes of the third quarter are always really important, so we just came out and dominated,” Personius said.
Mietra Smollack (12 points) was the top scorer for Oak Harbor (4-2, 7-3), which used a deliberate, controlled style to set the tone in the first half. The Wildcats led by as many as eight points in the second quarter and took a 20-16 advantage into the intermission.
But Lake Stevens generated transition baskets off of defensive rebounds and scored 16 third-quarter points — as many as it scored over the first two quarters.
“You’re going to have nights like that,” Lake Stevens coach Randall Edens said of his team’s first-half shooting woes, “and you’ve got to be able to get through that adversity a little bit. There’s no way you’re going to have (a full season) that’s going to go exactly according to plan.”
Point guard Leah Tate (five points, five assists) and posts Brittany Tri (seven points, 10 rebounds) and Karri Gallagher (six points, six boards) made valuable contributions for Lake Stevens.
Next up for the undefeated Vikings is Snohomish (6-0, 8-2). Lake Stevens travels to play the Panthers in Snohomish Tuesday and will surely be tested in a fight for first place in the Wesco North.
“They’re always somebody to look forward to. We obviously have tremendous respect for (Snohomish coach Ken Roberts) and his program,” Edens said.
Lake Stevens will look for another big performance from Personius, who entered Friday’s game averaging 6.6 points per outing but has scored 43 total points over her past three games.
“She’s been really big. Obviously the big game against (Jesuit High of Portland Dec. 29) was a confidence booster,” Edens said of Personius, who scored a season-high 19 versus Jesuit.
At Lake Stevens H.S.
Oak Harbor911412—36
Lake Stevens5111615—47
Oak Harbor — Tubo, Thiel 9, Jansen 2, Smollack 12, Baeyen 6, Denmon 3, Smith, Henricksen 4, Chong. Lake Stevens — Ochiltree 6, Tri 7, Tate 5, Personius 16, Gallagher 6, Schumacher 2, Bostwick 3, Warbis 2, Goddard. 3-point goals — Baeyen 2, Denmon 1, Tate 1, Personius 5. JV score — Lake Stevens 32, Oak Harbor 28. Records — Oak Harbor 4-2 in division, 7-3 overall. Lake Stevens 6-0, 10-0.
Contact Herald Writer Mike Cane at mcane@heraldnet.com. For more high school sports news, check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
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