Bowman shoots LC into semis
TACOMA – Heather Bowman’s 8-foot turnaround jumper with 6 seconds left Thursday night lifted the Lewis and Clark Tigers past the Lincoln Abes 55-53 and into the State 4A girls basketball semifinals.
The Tigers will face Auburn Riverside, a 50-46 winner over Eisenhower, at 7 tonight at the Tacoma Dome.
Despite being the Tigers’ leading scorer, Bowman wasn’t their option on their final play.
“We wanted to get it to Lyndi (Seidensticker) in the corner, but she (made her cut) too early,” LC coach Jim Redmon said. “But that isolated Heather on the block, which wasn’t a bad thing.”
Bowman has a favorite move – catch the ball on the block, turn toward her right shoulder and shoot the 5-foot fallaway. But with Samantha Tinned having harassed her into 5-of-15 shooting at that point, Bowman had to go to plan B.
“They had covered that shot all night,” LC’s 6-foot-2 senior said. “I figured if I went the other way, it would be open. I caught it, turned and was free. I shot it and prayed.”
“It was a big shot,” said Tinned, a 6-1 senior who played for state titlist Garfield – LC’s state semifinal conqueror – last year. “I have to give a lot of props for hitting that shot.”
Props or not, Lincoln (25-2) still had a chance to answer. But after a timeout and two passes up the court, Tinned lost the ball under pressure from Hanna Rothstrom and it rolled away as time ran out.
An appropriate ending because it was the Tigers defense – sparked by Ula Tauala – that fueled the comeback win. And it was their bench that fanned the flames.
LC (24-4) trailed by eight early in the second quarter before reserve Morgan Parker hit two 3-pointers as part of a 9-0 run. It led by seven early in the fourth before a flurry of Tigers turnovers helped Lincoln go on a 10-0 run to lead 51-48 with 3:15 left.
Rothstrom ended the 4-minute drought with a 10-footer in the lane – her only points. Tauala then came up with one of her five steals to give the Tigers a chance to take back the lead.
She took care of that as well, coming off a double screen and nailing a 20-footer from the top of the key with 2:23 left.
“I didn’t know what the score was,” Tauala said. “I shot it and prayed. After it went in I looked at the score and it was 53-51 or something.”
Twenty seconds later it was tied at 53, as Alex Montgomery grabbed the last of her game-high 10 rebounds and scored her 12th point. The 5-11 junior, Narrows League MVP, was hampered by foul trouble most of the night.
But her score was the last basket until Bowman’s, which gave her a game-high 16 points. Though the Tigers wouldn’t have had a last chance if not for the play of their bench.
The Tigers reserves outscored their Lincoln counterparts 21-4, with Parker and Tauala combining for 15 of those.
“There’s no question the bench was key,” Redmon said. “We haven’t had that in our losses. Everyone who went in tonight contributed. Isn’t that’s what supposed to happen at a state tournament?”