TACOMA — The Snohomish Panthers entered the Class 4A state tournament unranked and with several more losses than the other two Western Conference teams that qualified — third-ranked Jackson and No. 4 Lake Stevens.
But today unheralded, overlooked Snohomish is the only 4A Wesco girls basketball squad still playing in the Tacoma Dome.
Winning for the second time in three tries this week, Snohomish beat Wesco rival Lake Stevens 49-38 Friday in a loser-out consolation game.
Junior guard Karley Lampman had 15 points and six steals for Snohomish (21-6), which outscored Lake Stevens 29-9 in the middle quarters. The Panthers play Ballard at 1:30 p.m. today in the fourth/seventh-place game.
“We just came out with so much energy and winning attitude and got it done,” said Lampman, who helped Snohomish beat Lake Stevens (22-4) for the second time in February.
The teams split their two-game regular-season series. Lake Stevens beat Snohomish 44-41 Jan. 8. More recently, Snohomish defeated the Vikings 47-38 Feb. 4.
This time, Lake Stevens seemed less aggressive, said Lampman: “I just could tell we wanted it more.”
Senior guard Alona Personius’ 14 points led the Vikings, who Thursday lost a close quarterfinal game against Prairie, one of the tourney favorites. Snohomish appeared to recover much better from its quarterfinal defeat against two-time defending champion Lewis &Clark.
“One thing I’ve learned down here is you can’t let a loss affect you to the point where you don’t get to sleep,” Snohomish coach Ken Roberts said.
His team certainly played like it slept well the previous night.
Snohomish used a 14-2 second-quarter scoring burst to take a 12-point lead, its largest of the half. The Panthers’ run ended with five points by Lampman, who made two foul shots and drained a 3-pointer from the right wing on an assist from Juliet Desmarais.
Lake Stevens’ season-leading scorers, Mary Ochiltree and Karri Gallagher, were scoreless in the first half. Gallagher played just 6:14 in the half because of foul trouble.
After falling behind 40-20, Lake Stevens played better in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to nine points (45-36) with 3 minutes, 11 seconds to go. Personius scored seven points in the final period.
Lake Stevens players “deserve a lot of credit for coming back when they were down 20 and not giving up,” Snohomish’s Roberts said.
But it wasn’t nearly enough for Lake Stevens, which was led all season by its five senior starters: Ochiltree, Gallagher, Personius, Leah Tate and Brittany Tri.
The Vikings stayed in their locker room more than 20 minutes after the game ended. Finally, they emerged with eyes full of tears and sorrowful facial expressions.
“It’s always tough this time of year,” Lake Stevens coach Randall Edens said. “It’s a tremendous challenge, because it’s the end.”
Added Edens, who guided Lake Stevens to three-consecutive state-tourney appearances, “For these five seniors it’s been a pretty special ride.”
At the Tacoma Dome
Lake Stevens114518—38
Snohomish1114159—49
Lake Stevens — Ochiltree 5, Tri 2, Burke, Bostwick 2, Warbis, Goddard, Tate 8, Personius 14, Gallagher 7. Snohomish — Guthrie 6, Lampman 15, Burns 2, Desmarais, Miller, Benson 11, Heard 11, Fairbanks, Scott 4. 3-point goals — Ochiltree 1, Personius 2, Guthrie 1, Lampman 2. Records — Lake Stevens 22-4 overall. Snohomish 21-6.
Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
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