SHORELINE – Maya Glasser just needed to see one go in.
The Shorewood senior did not have a point in the first half as she and her teammates attempted to defend home court against Everett in the opening round of the 3A District 1 Girls Basketball Tournament on Wednesday.
With the fifth-seeded Stormrays (11-12) leading by eight with two minutes left in the third quarter, the 5-foot-7 guard unleashed a shot from behind the right elbow, sinking the 3-pointer to end a two-minute scoring drought between both sides and put Shorewood ahead by double-digits.
After a strong second-quarter push by the No. 12 seed Seagulls (6-17) to keep things close at half, the Stormrays powered through to win 41-30, advancing to the quarterfinals with their first playoff win in seven years.
“That definitely helped pick my energy up, but also the rest of the team’s,” Glasser said of her shot. “I think it allowed us to get on that run later on with the steals and fast breaks, and I also think that just with that, it also helped me to keep talking and keep bringing the energy that our team needed.”
Glasser had only one other basket to finish with five points, but her 3-pointer was arguably the biggest shot of the night, with Everett coach Darrell McNeal calling it “the dagger.”
Seniors Bridget Cox (11 points) and Rylie Gettman (nine points) led the Stormrays in scoring, while Everett junior Akilah Shaw scored a game-high 13 points.
With the Seagulls trailing 8-0 entering the second quarter, Shaw and her twin sister Akira (10 points) combined for each of Everett’s 12 points before halftime to cut the deficit to two, playing better defense and finishing layups after a cold start.
“I told them, ‘Look, we have nothing to lose, so play free, play loose,’” McNeal said. “So they settled down and they started to play a little harder, little better.”
After Akilah Shaw tied the game 14-14 on the Seagulls’ first possession of the third quarter, the Stormrays were faced with the potential of an upset loss to end their season early. With field goals proving hard to come by from either side, Shorewood managed to build themselves another lead thanks to opportune free throws from Cox and freshman Elle Wiehle (six points).
“Knowing our team’s potential, clearly we weren’t showing it at that moment [entering halftime],” Cox said. “This team has always been resilient, and I think we just had to reset, look at each other and just be like, ‘What can we do better? What are we gonna do to pull through the win?’ Just communicate, basically.”
Junior Lilly Marter hit a big 3-pointer midway through the quarter to go up 22-14, and Glasser all but put the nail in the coffin a couple of minutes later to cap an 11-point run. Cox and Co. started to make more shots in the fourth quarter, putting Shorewood ahead by as much as 16 points before settling in for their fifth straight win.
The Stormrays advance to face their crosstown rivals, No. 4 seed Shorecrest, in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Highlanders won the last matchup between the two, 66-65, on Jan. 25, winning on buzzer-beating tip-in. Shorewood has not lost since then, and they hope to avenge that loss with a semifinal berth on the line.
“I think it’s fitting that we have an opportunity to go back and play them again, and see if we can get one at their place,” Shorewood coach Brandon Glasser said. “We got to bring the best defense for that game, for sure, and the communication is where it starts. We know that, and we know that opponent pretty well, so it’s not a mystery.”
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