MOUNTLAKE TERRACE
Carrying just eight players, the underdog Bear Creek Grizzlies of the SeaTac Conference rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the previously undefeated North Sound Christian girls basketball team 49-47 in the Lions Holiday Invitational on Dec. 29.
Junior forward Kimi Pohlman scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Redmond-based school, which improved to 3-5 overall. Bear Creek, which has won three of its past four games, defeated Crescent 51-42 in the opening round (Dec. 28) of the tournament. The loss snapped North Sound Christian’s six-game winning streak as it dropped to 6-1.
“This is definitely a tough loss,” North Sound Christian coach Arie Mahler said. “This is our first loss, but I believe it’s a learning lesson. You can grow from adversity. We knew this was going to be a tough game so I have to give all the credit to Bear Creek. They played very hard and deserved the victory.”
North Sound Christian opened its holiday tournament with a 60-38 victory over Christian Faith the night before. The Lions continue play on Jan. 9, when they travel to Northwest 1B foe Lopez. They return home Jan. 12 to face Grace Academy.
Junior forward Elyse Bunger led the Lions, who trailed early in the first quarter before the Grizzlies made their run in the fourth quarter, with 14 points and six rebounds. Eight of Bunger’s 14 points came in the first quarter. Senior guard Nicole Brekkaa broke a two-game double-digit scoring drought by chipping in 11 points and pulling down four rebounds.
“Overall, this was good formidable match up for us,” Mahler said. “But most of all I believe this loss was a wake up call for us.”
After going on a 7-2 run to open the second quarter and taking a 25-16 lead, the Lions went dry. They scored just three points in the final 4:49 of the first half. The team shot a woeful 1-for-9 from the field during that time but managed to take 25-21 halftime lead.
Jamie Perry, a senior guard, helped trigger Bear Creek’s comeback late in the third quarter, as the Grizzlies went on a 5-0 run to narrow their deficit to only one point with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter. Perry finished with 11 points. It was her third consecutive game with 10 or more points.
The Lions took a four-point lead with 3:03 remaining in the fourth quarter. But the Grizzlies, shorthanded with two players on vacation, were able to outscore the Lions 8-3 in the final three minutes en route to their upset victory.
Melissa Castor scored 10 points and Bethany Looser added eight points for the Lions.
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