SNOHOMISH — The third time was nearly the charm for the Cascade Bruins.
Playing each other for the third time this season, this time in the 4A girls District 1 tournament, the Cascade Bruins and Snohomish Panthers played a game that epitomizes postseason basketball — a back-and-forth intense contest that ended with the Western Conference North Division No. 1 seed Snohomish Panthers outlasting the North No. 5 seeded Bruins 37-32 in a playoff game at Snohomish High School Wednesday night.
Katie Benson scored four of her game-high 15 points in the crucial closing minutes of the fourth quarter and the Panthers (19-2 overall) staved off what would have been a huge bracket busting upset by the Bruins.
Relief is how Benson described the Panthers post-game atmosphere in the locker room.
“It was a nice exhale for sure. Cascade gave us a huge run for our money. It was a tough game,” the Seattle Pacific-bound senior post said.
Cascade (10-12) did what no other team in the Western Conference was able to do with the Panthers, play them to the wire.
“This is the type of thing we’re going to get the rest of the districts and if we make it to state. It was a really good test for us mentally,” Benson said.
The Bruins held Snohomish to a season-low 37 points and gave the Panthers their first scare since a 48-42 New Year’s Eve loss to Southridge (Oregon).
“It was a great effort. We’re not going to hang our heads. We’re going to take something from it and apply it to the next game,” second-year Cascade head coach Carlos Humphrey said.
Cascade, which earned the final 4A District 1 seed by defeating Mariner in a play-in game on Saturday, was led by Danielle Love and Katy Gross, who each scored 12 points.
Gross had six of her 12 points in the third quarter. Love scored five of her 12 in the final quarter, the first three on a 3-pointer from three feet behind the arc, the second on an offensive rebound that gave Cascade its final lead at 32-31 with 2:12 remaining.
“They are one of the most talented teams in the league. If they play like they did tonight they’ll be hard to beat for anybody the rest of the way,” Snohomish head coach Ken Roberts said.
Love’s points came on 5-for-9 shooting but she was held in check by Portland State-bound Karley Lampman.
Though Lampman struggled from the field (1-for-14) she all but made up for it on defense where she kept the Bruin standout from getting the ball.
As a team Snohomish struggled from the field shooting 33 percent (14-for-43) and 3-for-19 from behind the arc.
“Defense and rebounding won the game, our offense wasn’t great but as long as you do those other things we’re going to be in the game,” Roberts told his squad after the game.
Lampman and Ally Schmitt, Snohomish’s third Division-1 recruit, each had five rebounds but none were as big as Joanna Balin’s back-to-back boards in the third quarter.
The senior pulled down and then put back two offensive rebounds that allowed Snohomish to turn a 3-point 23-20 deficit into a 24-23 lead.
“People made plays down the stretch and that’s what we need to do,” Roberts said.
At Snohomish H.S.
Cascade78107 — 32
Snohomish610813 — 37
Cascade—De. Love 2, Bergman, Da. Love 12, Gross 12, Gordon 4, Nelson 2. Snohomish—Guthrie 8, Schmitt 4, Lampman 6, Keithley, Timmerman, Berg, Benson 15, Balin 4. 3-pointers-Da. Love 2, Guthrie 2, Lampman 1. Records-Cascade 10-12 overall. Snohomish 19-2.
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