Edmonds-Woodway head coach Duane Hodges believes his young team has an unusual amount of depth when it comes to putting the ball in the basket.
In any one game, according to Hodges, any one of his players can stand out. So far it’s worked out just fine for the Warriors, who are tied for first place in the Western Conference South Division.
It worked out again on Jan. 6 with a big lead rapidly disappearing in the third quarter. That’s when leading scorer Angela Woods helped stop the bleeding.
Woods, a junior forward, scored a game-high 19 points — and added key back-to-back baskets to stop a Kamiak rally in the third quarter — as Edmonds-Woodway defeated Kamiak 59-41 in a girls basketball game at Kamiak High School.
“That’s what she’s good at,” Hodges, in his first year at Edmonds-Woodway after eight years of coaching at Shoreline Christian, said of Woods. “I don’t even have to say anything. She’s really competitive (and came through) in a tense time.”
Edmonds-Woodway jumped out to a 30-19 halftime lead behind a pressure defense and tall defenders that made it difficult for Kamiak to finish once inside the paint.
But the Knights rallied to open the third quarter thanks in large part to senior guard Kariah Kussman (11 points), who hit a 3-pointer, converted a layup off a steal and made two free throws during a 9-0 run.
After Kamiak post Natalle Stephens banked in a long jumper, the Knights had trimmed the Edmonds-Woodway lead to 34-28 with three minutes remaining in the quarter.
“They came out really strong,” Woods said of Kamiak’s performance in the third quarter. “They took us by surprise. We came out (with low energy) and they took advantage. We can usually pull out of it, but … it was upsetting.”
Woods answered the challenge, converting a layup, and then making another basket plus a foul shot to push the Warrior advantage back to 10 points. Sophomore guard Madeline Kasper (13 points) then hit a 3-pointer to secure the lead again and get her team out of danger.
Ashley Albertson added 12 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for Edmonds-Woodway, and Hodges credited her rebounding and post play with helping to secure the victory.
Kussman’s 11 points led Kamiak despite fouling out with 7:08 remaining in the fourth quarter. Lexi Burns scored seven points, and Erika Larson also added seven points.
After graduating five seniors and four starters from last year’s club, the general consensus was that Kamiak would be rebuilding this year.
But nearly midway through the season the Knights have a winning record, and played some strong teams close, earlier this year rallying to take the lead in its game against Meadowdale before falling 52-47.
“I’m really proud of our kids,” Kamiak head coach Jody Schauer said before the game. “The league coaches picked us to finish seventh or eighth before the season (and) we’ve kind of been playing the underdog role a lot. … Considering teams didn’t have high expectations, I think the kids took it as a challenge.”
Schauer said he hoped to wear Edmonds-Woodway out early, describing the Warriors starting five “as good or better than anyone’s.” In the third quarter, it looked like the strategy might pay off, before Woods and the rest of the Warriors answered.
The Edmonds-Woodway lineup can certainly be intimidating. Four players entered Wednesday night’s game averaging double digits: Angela Woods (16.5 points), Ashley Albertson (11.4), Amia Nash (10.6), and Sydney Donaldson (11.3), with a fifth player, junior guard Alex Kenney, averaging 9.3 points.
It’s a problem any coach is happy to have.
“I kind of expected that,” Hodges said. “I told people (before the season) I wouldn’t be surprised if all five starters led the team in scoring at some point during the season.”
Alex Bosworth writes for The Herald.
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