MOUNT VERNON
There were tears from both benches at the end of this one, but that was foreseeable considering what was at stake and how tightly contested the game was.
There were tears of elation at the south end of the court inside Mount Vernon High School’s historic gymnasium, where the No.1-ranked Anacortes Seahawks and their fans, just six days removed from a first-round upset loss to Sehome, celebrated clinching a berth in the Class 2A girls state tournament with its 51-49 victory over Archbishop Murphy in a 2A District 1 basketball game on Feb. 27.
And there were tears of disappointment and deja vu at the north end, where Archbishop Murphy saw its impressive season end prematurely for the second year in a row.
“Much more,” said Archbishop Murphy coach John Barhanovich, when asked if this season-ending loss hurt more than last year’s. “Last year we really had to fight and scrap from behind. This (game) was an awesome effort. We went toe-to-toe with (Anacortes).”
It was a shame someone had to lose Wednesday night in a tooth-and-nail battle that saw neither team lead by more than six points. But with the game and a state tournament berth on the line in the final minute, Anacortes’ best player made the pivotal play to literally steal the game from Archbishop Murphy.
With the Wildcats up 49-47 with 31 seconds to play, Anacortes’ Brittany Janz stole the ball, scored on a layup and drew a foul. Janz, who averages better than 19 points per game, made the free throw to convert the old-fashioned three-point play to give Anacortes a 50-49 lead.
The Wildcats had a chance to take the lead at the free-throw line with 11 seconds to play but missed both shots.
Anacortes’ Kaila Hammond made one of two free throws with four seconds to play, and a half-court desperation shot by the Wildcats at the buzzer fell well short.
“That game could have gone either way,” Anacortes coach Ken Welk said. “Archbishop Murphy played a tremendous game. I felt it was going to come down in that fourth quarter to who could make a play, and I just tip my hat to Brittany Janz – she’s been our player all season long in the clutch.”
The seesaw battle saw eight lead changes and seven ties as neither team could sustain a run for a long period of time. The teams were knotted at 24 at halftime, but Janz scored nine of her game-high 22 points in the third quarter to stake the Seahawks to a 37-32 lead after three quarters of play.
Archbishop Murphy’s Shelby Lyman made a pair of free throws and hit a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to one at 43-42 with four minutes left to play.
After Alyssa Smith converted two free throws and hit a 15-footer, the Wildcats took the lead with 2:10 remaining when Lyman hit a 3-pointer to make the score 49-46. But those were the last points the Wildcats would score.
“A credit to our kids – they played as hard as they could,” Barhanovich said. “We had a great effort, a great chance to win that thing, and like I said, (Anacortes’) best player made a great play at the end.”
Smith led the Wildcats with 14 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 1:17 left to play. Lyman added 12 points for Archbishop Murphy.
The Wildcats graduate just one player off this year’s team, reserve forward Lauren Moran, but that was of little consolation to Barhanovich afterward.
“That’s hollow at the moment,” he said. “We’ve been into this thing two years in a row where we played a loser-out game, been right there and we can’t get it done. Looking toward next year – that’s not it right now.”
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