TACOMA – Snohomish was down, but all it needed was a giant dose of Daesha.
The Panthers of Snohomish High School struggled through a sluggish first half late Wednesday night in the first round of the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament in the Tacoma Dome.
Then junior guard Daesha Henderson’s third-quarter explosion propelled the Panthers to a 52-38 victory over the Gig Harbor Tides.
Henderson scored nine of her game-high 20 points in the third quarter as Snohomish outscored the Tides 17-9. Emily Cassidy, a senior forward, contributed 12 rebounds and seven points for the Panthers (23-1 overall), who won their 23rd consecutive game to advance to a quarterfinal against Richland (23-3) at 8:30 p.m. today.
Neither team shot well early on. Snohomish took a 5-1 lead when Cassidy made one of two free-throw attempts with 3:43 remaining in the first quarter. But Gig Harbor ended the quarter with an 8-2 run to pull ahead 9-7.
Before her third-quarter heroics, Henderson also fueled Snohomish in the second quarter. She scored all seven of her first-half points in the period to help the Panthers take a 19-16 lead into the halftime break.
Cassidy scored seven points and grabbed eight rebounds in the first half, but Gig Harbor still out-rebounded Snohomish 22-20.
Both teams had woeful shooting performances in the first 16 minutes. Snohomish shot 7-for-32 from the field, including 0-for-13 from behind the 3-point line, and 5-for-9 at the free-throw line.
Gig Harbor shot 6-for-20 from the field and committed 12 turnovers in the first half.
Meanwhile, Snohomish took much better care of the ball in the first half -the Panthers had just four turnovers.
Henderson was the best player on the floor in the third quarter. She scored seven straight points (a fast-break layin, a 3-pointer and another layin off her own steal) to start the half, giving Snohomish a 10-point cushion (26-16). Overall, Henderson tallied nine points in the period, which the Panthers completed ahead 36-25.
Nikki Scott’s 16 points led Gig Harbor (18-8), which never got closer than 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Gig Harbor97913-38
Snohomish7121716-52
Gig Harbor-Scott 16, North 10, Betterbed 6, E. Hacker 2, Sexton 2, T. Hacker 2. Snohomish-Heard 1, Best 3, Henderson 20, Moore 6, Cassidy 7, Angell 5, Rathke 2, Benson 8. 3-point goals-Scott 3, Betterbed 1, Best 1, Henderson 1, Angell 1. Records-Gig Harbor 18-8 overall. Snohomish 23-1.
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