By Christopher Taylor
Herald Writer
SHORELINE – Lake Stevens played with confidence early, but Shorecrest’s inspired play in the fourth quarter led the Scots to a 43-39 victory in a first-round Class 4A Northwest District girls basketball tournament game Wednesday at Shorecrest High School.
Shorecrest outscored Lake Stevens 19-5 in the final period. Junior guard Haley Martin scored 10 of Shorecrest’s last 13 points to fuel the comeback.
The victory advances Shorecrest to the next round of the tournament where it will meet Oak Harbor in a winner-to-state game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Cascade High School. The Vikings go to the losers’ bracket, where they will face Shorewood at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Cascade.
“We were tight early but were able to relaxed in the second half,” said Shorecrest coach Don Salziel. “We worked hard in the second half and chipped away. It’s going to be nice to play in a winner-to-state game on Saturday.”
Lake Stevens’ strong low-post presence and solid play from their point guard gave the Vikings a 28-16 lead with 4:56 to play in the third quarter after two straight Maisie Todd baskets. However, Shorecrest called a timeout and from there took over. The Scots outscored Lake Stevens 27-11 in the last 13 minutes of the game.
Shorecrest battled back to tie the score at 34-34 when Martin scored on a 17-foot jumper. That basket was part of a 10-0 Shorecrest run that eventually gave the Scots a 36-34 lead with 3:22 to play.
Katie Holloway tied the score for the last time at 36 for Lake Stevens with her basket with 2:04 to play.
Angela Cornejo scored a big 3-point basket with 1:03 to play for a 39-36 Shorecrest lead. Lake Stevens was forced to foul in the final 30 seconds of the game and Martin, who finished with a game-high 17 points, hit four straight free throws as her team held on for the victory.
Holloway and Todd formed a tough line of defense that Shorecrest was unable to overcome in the first half. Lake Stevens jumped out to a 14-5 first-quarter lead and extended that to their biggest lead of the game at 22-7 with 2:04 to go in the second quarter after Holloway scored a turnaround basket.
“This was a tough loss,” said Lake Stevens coach Steve Berg. “Shorecrest played hard but we were fairly dead in the second half. Their defense caused us some problems shooting in the second half. We weren’t able to hit our shots.”
Lake Stevens- Estes 4, Carbonatto 11,Cochrun 5, Whitman 2, Russum 2, Todd 7, Holloway 8. Shorecrest- Dennis 6, Sullivan 3, Michiels 7, Martin 17, Cornejo 6, Lawson 2, O’Suna 2 3-point goals- Cochrun 1, Whitman 1, Dennis 1, Sullivan 1, Martin 1, Cornejo 2.
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