MUKILTEO
The Jackson girls basketball team was looking to enter the district playoffs on a high note.
Mission accomplished.
Led by juniors Erin Feeney and Chanel Sam, the Timberwolves grabbed a piece of the Wesco South Division title and earned the Wesco South’s top playoff seed with an 86-66 victory over Kamiak in the regular-season finale for both teams on Feb. 15 at Kamiak High School.
Feeney scored a game-high 29 points for Jackson and Sam added 20.
Jackson (15-3 league, 17-3 overall) entered the evening tied with Meadowdale and Edmonds-Woodway for first place in the South Division. With all three teams winning on Thursday – the Mavs downed Mountlake Terrace 43-39 and the Warriors beat Lynnwood 59-53 – all three earned a piece of the division title.
“It gives our young kids some added confidence (heading into districts),” Jackson head coach Jeannie Thompson said of the win over the Knights. “Kamiak is a really good team … so for us to be able to come in here and do this, hopefully that will translate into the cross-Wesco games”
By virtue of tiebreakers, Jackson heads into the Class 4A district tournament as the No. 1 seed from the South, with Edmonds-Woodway as the No. 2. Both will host district playoff games.
Meadowdale advances to the Class 3A district tournament.
Kamiak (13-5, 14-6) had already clinched a 4A district berth, but regardless of Thursday’s outcome the Knights were locked into the South No. 3 seed and opening the playoffs away from home.
The Knights opened the second quarter with three straight 3-pointers; two by junior Kariah Kussman and one from senior Kelsey Patrick, cutting the Timberwolves lead to 30-28.
But then Kamiak’s shooters went cold, and Feeney and Sam went to work for Jackson, using 3-pointers from Feeney and Sam’s driving lay-ups to push the Timberwolves’ lead into double digits at the intermission.
Freshman Kristin Stoffel finished with 10 points for Jackson and sophomore Megan McArthur had 11.
After the break, two quick baskets from Patrick and a 3-pointer by senior Samantha Sovich got the Knights back into a single-digit deficit at 51-42, but that was as close as Kamiak would get.
Feeney scored eight of the Timberwolves’ final 11 points from the free-throw line in the waning minutes of the game.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Thompson said. “Two competitive teams wanting to end their regular season with a win.”
Patrick had 19 points to lead the Knights, and senior Georgia McClaskey added 12 points. Sovich and Kussman each chipped in nine points.
It was Kamiak’s Senior Night, and head coach Jody Schauer started the five 12th-graders on his roster: Sovich, Patrick, McClaskey, Lauren Simmons and Michelle Lipscomb.
Jackson swept the regular-season series with Kamiak, winning the teams’ first meeting 59-44 on Jan. 15.
Scott Whitmore writes for The Herald in Everett.
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