TACOMA — Maya Erling buried a go-ahead stepback jumper in the final minute as the fifth-seeded Glacier Peak girls basketball team rallied for a 58-53 win over fourth-seeded Central Valley to claim the Class 4A fourth-place trophy Saturday at the Hardwood Classic in the Tacoma Dome.
Facing a 12-point deficit entering the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies (23-4) outscored the defending state champions 21-4 in the final period.
“We really locked them down,” GP coach Brian Hill said. “We hit some big shots, got some huge stops (and) made clutch free throws down the stretch. … We just limited (Central Valley) and didn’t let them get anything easy.”
With her team trailing by a point with just under 40 seconds to play, Erling drove to her right, created separation with a stepback dribble and drained a go-ahead jumper to give the Grizzlies a 54-53 edge. GP then sank four free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Erling, a sophomore, led GP with 19 points and eight rebounds.
“She’s a gamer,” Hill said. “She just is a fierce competitor who likes to win — probably more so than anybody I’ve ever had in my program. … So for her to go out like that today was awesome.”
Aaliyah Collins added 12 points and Shay Sande scored 10 for the youth-laden Grizzlies, who avenged a 59-44 loss to Central Valley (22-5) in the state regionals one week prior.
Tomekia Whitman led the Bears with 18 points and Camryn Skaife added 15.
3A GIRLS
Snohomish 38, West Seattle 33
TACOMA — Powered by their smothering defense, the 11th-seeded Panthers beat the ninth-seeded Wildcats to claim the 3A fourth-place trophy at the Hardwood Classic in the Tacoma Dome.
It was the third top-four state trophy in four seasons for Snohomish (19-8), which was the 4A runner-up in 2016 and placed third in 3A in 2017.
The Panthers once again rode their defense, allowing less than 40 points for the 16th time this season. Snohomish held opponents under 40 in three of its four Hardwood Classic games.
“When you look at that (state) field, honestly, offensive-talent-wise we’re not as good as some of the teams that we have beat,” Panthers coach Ken Roberts said. “But our kids play really, really hard, and we have some very good athletes that play great defense.”
Facing an eight-point deficit early in the second quarter, Snohomish closed the half on a 15-5 run for a two-point halftime lead.
West Seattle (20-7) cut a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to 36-33, but the Panthers forced a late turnover and Maya DuChesne sank two free throws with 21.7 seconds remaining to help seal the victory.
Courtney Perry led Snohomish with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Kinslee Gallatin added nine points on three first-half 3-pointers.
Jasmine Gayles scored 11 for the Wildcats.
1A BOYS
King’s 68, La Center 56
YAKIMA — The Knights earned a 1A third-place trophy at the Hardwood Classic with a victory over La Center on Saturday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Senior Elyon Zevenbergen scored 21 of his game-high 31 points in the second half and pulled down 20 rebounds for 10th-seeded King’s (22-6), which claimed its sixth top-three finish in the past seven seasons. Freshmen Jordan Hansen and Tyler Linhardt chipped in eight points each.
Matt Bryant’s 18 points paced the second-seeded Wildcats (22-4).
The Knights outscored La Center 40-18 in the paint, 18-0 in bench points and turned 18 turnovers by the Wildcats into 24 second-chance points.
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