MOUNT VERNON — Just when wide-eyed Lynnwood thought it could fire its big guns, Liz McCarrell gave the Royals a quick dose of postseason reality.
Playing in its first district playoff game in nine seasons, Lynnwood battled to a 13-12 first-quarter lead.
But McCarrell, a Northwest 3A League most valuable player candidate, lit up the young Royals for 24 points to spark Ferndale’s 60-45 loser-out win at the Class 3A Northwest District girls basketball tournament Feb. 22 at Mount Vernon High School.
McCarrell, a 6-0 junior guard, scored eight points in the second quarter, slashing and scrapping to help put Ferndale ahead 30-20 at the break and the Eagles never looked back.
Lynnwood shot 8-for-31 in the first half.
Sarah Owen, one of two Lynnwood seniors, called her first district playoff experience “nerve-wracking” but was proud her team bounced back in the third quarter to cut Ferndale’s lead to seven.
“All of our heads perked up,” she said. “But they kept breaking our press and getting easy layups.”
Aaron Crabtree is a writer for The Herald in Everett.
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