Dolphin women get much-needed victory

Shoreline women beat North Seattle

By Drew Turner

For The Enterprise

SHORELINE

In a game that featured 11 lead changes, it was only fitting that the Homecoming battle between Shoreline Community College and North Seattle CC wasn’t decided until the final minute of play.

Knotted at 52 with less than a minute, the Shoreline Lady Dolphins found freshman forward Jane Fleck wide open on the right hand side.

After calmly draining the go-ahead basket, the homecoming crowd gave her a vocal approval and the Dolphins went on to defeat the Seattle Community College Storm 56-52 Wednesday night.

“Please, please, please go in,” Fleck told herself after releasing the ball in what turned out to be the game-winning basket with less than a minute to play.

“This win felt good, especially on Homecoming for us,” the 5-foot-10 Shorewood High School product said.

The Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges North Division contest featured four ties and the visiting Storm led by as many as seven points at one point.

Shoreline improved to 5-10 in NWAACC play and 6-11 overall while North Seattle fell to 3-10, 4-11.

The four-point victory came 48 hours after Shoreline was defeated 75-48 to NWAACC North foe Skagit Valley.

“It was one our girls really needed,” Dolphins coach Derek Witt said. “We have lost six of our top-10 girls recently to grades, injuries, etc. and these girls have been working as hard as they can. I didn’t want one to get away. I really wanted to see their effort pay off.”

Fleck led all scorers with 16 points, and was one of three Dolphins to score in double figures. Freshman guard Kylie Williams added a dozen and Kyla Schmidt chipped in 10.

Seattle nearly overcame the loss of two key Storm players—sophomore guard Hiroe Chiba was carried off the court early in the second half, and freshman guard Daveonna Munson fouled out with about five minutes remaining in the contest.

Storm coach Rebecca Valdivia said the loss of Chiba and Munson definitely affected the game.

“It was huge when she (Munson) fouled out, but more importantly when Hiroe went out with an injury,” Valdivia said. “She (Hiroe) was penetrating and hitting her threes tonight. That hurt us big time and it really set the tone for the game.”

Chiba landed on her chin after a hard foul and was taken to a local emergency room after the game to get stitches. She finished with eight points.

The NWAACC foes battled back and forth early in the contest, and neither seemed to gain any momentum until the Dolphins went on a 9-0 run halfway through the first half.

Fueled by four different players, Shoreline took a short-lived lead at 20-17 after trailing by six.

The Storm battled back and regained the lead at 29-27 at the intermission after two more lead changes in the final minutes.

Seattle maintained the advantage in the second half until the Dolphins tied the score at 48-all with 3:13 remaining.

“Find people. Block out,” Witt yelled at his squad as the intensity in the sparsely attended Shoreline gymnasium began to rise.

With momentum up for grabs, the scoreboard read 52-52 with 78 ticks on the clock.

Fleck’s jumper from the right side of the key sent the crowd to its feet, and the possession arrow pointed toward the Dolphins.

Leading by two with less than a minute, Fleck was fouled and calmly sank both shots from the charity stripe to seal the victory for Shoreline.

“We just needed this one. This was a big win for us,” assistant coach Tera McAdoo said. “We needed some good momentum. Everyone has been on a downhill slope and we just needed to pick up our intensity.”