SNOHOMISH — Friday night’s matchup between Lake Stevens girls basketball and Glacier Peak was as close to a Wesco 4A title game as you can get.
Both teams went 5-0 in their last five games against league opponents leading up to the rematch, but it would be the Vikings (11-4, 8-0) celebrating a 56-51 comeback victory over the Grizzlies (10-6, 6-2) to widen their season lead.
Tessa Anastasi’s play on both ends led the way for Lake Stevens, as the junior scored a game-high 22 points on five 3-pointers and grabbed eight rebounds. But Anastasi, accustomed to blocking shots of any kind as an All-Wesco soccer goalie, shone brightest when she slid across the key to deflect a game-tying 3-pointer with just 12 seconds remaining in the contest.
“I saw (Glacier Peak) ready to pull it up, and I just knew that I had to full-on jump and get it, and I did,” Anastasi said of the crucial block.
That effort capped a gritty comeback for the Vikings in which they outscored the Grizzlies 21-12 in the fourth quarter.
Lake Stevens ended up outrebounding Glacier Peak 38-29 and played to their size advantage, but the Grizzlies controlled the game for much of the first half. GP led 15-6 at the end of the first quarter, powered by drawn charges from junior Zoey Ritter (team-high 17 points) and an early edge on the boards. After some visible frustration at the lack of offensive production in the first, the Vikings got to work.
Lake Stevens’ Keira Isabelle Tupua makes a jump shot during the game against Glacier Peak on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The lead was cut to five at the half as Anastasi and junior Keira Tupua (16 points, six rebounds) found their respective rhythms. The Vikings also began to impose themselves on the glass, as Glacier Peak looked fatigued after waiting to play for a week since their last game.
An eight-point frame from Ritter and some dimes from star senior guard Brynna Pukis (15 points, five assists) in the third helped counter a 10-point quarter for Anastasi, but the Vikings wouldn’t be denied in the fourth.
Sophomore Noelani Tupua (11 points, 12 rebounds), settled in on defense and forced some turnovers, while Anastasi put the finishing touches on a signature performance with two clutch 3s. But the Grizzlies’ biggest hurdle presented itself at the six-minute mark when Ritter fouled out trying to draw a key charge. Without that key piece on both sides of the ball for Glacier Peak, the Vikings made their move and completed the comeback.
The loss left the Grizzlies doing some soul-searching.
“(This game) means everything, we wanted that one really badly for the league title,” Ritter said. “We needed to win that game.”
Glacier Peak’s Zoey Ritter takes the ball to the hoop fir a layup during the game against Lake Stevens on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
With a two-game advantage over the last four games of the season, the Vikings are indeed a few wins away from taking the league for a second consecutive season.
Despite the game’s implications, Glacier Peak head coach Brian Hill is looking to the future. Hill saw the loss as another building block for a team with aspirations of playing “at the end of February and the beginning of March.” Considering the more lopsided 71-63 defeat the Grizzlies suffered to Lake Stevens a month ago, Hill focused on the positive.
“I’m more happy with this loss than I was was the first time that we played them. I thought we, defensively, did our jobs except for (Anastasi’s performance) in the second half,” Hill said. “We’re getting closer, we’re closing the gap.”
For the Vikings, their season sweep of Glacier Peak hinged on two late pushes to seal wins. Noelanie Tupua credited the halftime adjustments made by head coach Seth Dodge and the league implications for the surge of energy they needed late.
“At halftime, we were not happy with it. We got yelled at and we knew we had to lock in, because it’s for Wesco,” Tupua said.
Lake Stevens head coach Seth Doge reacts to his team pull ahead during the game against Glacier Peak on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Dodge was proud of how his squad responded to the Grizzlies’ challenge for a second consecutive meeting.
“That adversity hit again and we were able to come back and get focused and just play our game,” Dodge said. “It was just so fun to see them compete and battle and do the little things we’d talked about.”
A gritty win is never a perfect win, and it showed — the Vikings turned the ball over 17 times to 13 Grizzlies giveaways. Glacier Peak set the tone early in that regard, poking at the ball constantly and waiting in passing lanes all night. Stops were hard to come by in the first matchup between these teams, so the even-kiel nature his team played with in forcing turnovers is something to build on for Hill.
“We’re not there yet. Why aren’t we there? Consistency,” Hill said. “I thought this was a pretty consistent game, and yeah we had a little falter here and a little falter there, but we’re getting better.”
The postseason looms as the runway for regular season improvement grows shorter by the day. Both squads will be back in action next Wednesday night, as Glacier Peak will play at Kamiak while Lake Stevens will host Mariner.
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