TACOMA
Riding the wave of momentum remaining from its historic state-berth clinching win in last week’s 3A District 1 tournament, the Lynnwood girls basketball team was poised to upset perennial state contender Prairie (Battle Ground) in the first round of the 3A state basketball tournament.
The wave ran out, however, when the Royals couldn’t maintain a six-point lead to start the fourth quarter.
Lynnwood’s offense hit a standstill against Prairie’s zone defense during a rough second half that saw the Royals outscored by 15 points en route to a 47-38 first-round loss to the Falcons March 10 at the Tacoma Dome.
Mokun Fajemisin, Lynnwood’s 5-foot-10 sophomore workhorse in the key, finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks, but the Royals failed to work the ball down low as often as they would have liked.
“Prairie came with a zone-trapping type of a defense and we had a tough time adjusting to the trap they had,” Lynnwood head coach Everett Edwards said. “We struggled with that (getting the ball to Fajemisin). In the first half, we had a little bit of success. In the second half we struggled a little bit against the zone and we really couldn’t get the ball inside, which was a little surprising to us.”
Meghan Cross, a 5-10 sophomore, scored a team-high 11 points for Lynnwood (14-13 overall), which is making its first state tournament appearance in 16 years.
Lynnwood struggled shooting, making just three of 20 shots in the second half and 34.2 percent for the game (13 of 38).
“We had effort, we had energy, we were executing a little bit,” Edwards, a third-year coach, said. “At halftime, we just had a tough time adjusting and being able to make the right plays.”
Prairie (19-6), a four-time 4A state champion and winner of 136 consecutive Greater St. Helen’s league games until the steak was snapped in February, patiently chipped away at Lynnwood’s lead and tied it up, 34-34, with 5 minutes, 35 seconds remaining on the clock.
Reserve forward Andrea Smith scored six-straight points to keep Prairie close, then 5-8 freshman Jackie Lanz hit three free throws to tie the game.
Lynnwood couldn’t convert on its possessions and Prairie’s Lauren Goecke scored four points in the final 1:17 to seal the win.
Goecke, a junior, scored a game-high 12 points for the Falcons.
“We had confidence,” Prairie reserve guard Kat Vela said. “Jackie Lanz had those three free throws that put us right back in the game and we just did a good job staying confident, especially on the bench.”
The Falcons bench scored 14 points, including four points and three rebounds from 5-11 sophomore Kelsey Asplund.
Prairie, which finished in seventh place last season — its first year after dropping down a classification — isn’t the vintage powerhouse of the past. The youthful Falcons lack an inside game, but are patient on offense and strong on defense. The team also learned to play without 6-1 sophomore Heather Corral, arguably one of the best players in the Greater St. Helen’s league, who suffered a season-ending injury in December.
None of the history surrounding the Prairie program seemed to rattle Lynnwood as the Royals shot 10 of 18 from the field, including three of four from long range to erase a six-point deficit and claim a 28-22 halftime lead.
“Scrappy team, very good,” said Prairie head coach Al Aldridge, who is in his 30th year with the program. “I thought we did a nice job of keeping the ball out of (Mokun Fajemisin’s) hands for the most part, that was one of our objectives. We knew she was going to be a load for us to deal with if she got the ball in there (the key).
“Lynnwood was aggressive and I think the biggest thing that surprised me was how they handled attacking the basket through the press, they were very assertive.”
The Falcons have made 11 consecutive trips to the Tacoma Dome, but for Lynnwood, this trip was a long time in the making.
“This is a first experience for all our kids,” Edwards said.
Mark Nelson writes for The Herald.
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