State 2A/1A: Clarkston girls clamp down on Archbishop Murphy to reach semifinals
YAKIMA – With its own offense not lighting up the scoreboard in its State 2A quarterfinal Wednesday afternoon, the Clarkston girls basketball team went on the defensive.
Limiting sixth-seeded Archbishop Murphy to 17.5% shooting for the game, the fifth-seeded Bantams pulled away in the second half for a 55-42 victory Thursday in the Yakima Valley SunDome.
“They brought the energy,” Clarkston coach Debbi Sobbotta said of the team’s defense. “Their goal was to disrupt their flow, and they accomplished that.”
Clarkston advances to Friday’s semifinals where second-seeded Lynden, which has been labeled the tourney favorite by some, for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. The Lions shook off a slow start in their quarterfinal before beating eighth-seeded Columbia River.
Sobotta figures a repeat of Thursday’s would go a long way in beating Lynden.
“We’ve got to play our game and to play at our pace,” she said. “You just try to get a team to get out of their rhythm and their flow.”
Eloise Teasley led the Bantams with 15 points. Kendall Wallace and Ella Leavitt – the lone Bantams to shoot 50% or better from the field, finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
It’s Clarkston’s first trip to the semifinals since 2012.
1A
Boys
Annie Wright 63, Freeman 44: The Gators shot 54.2% from the floor (26 for 48), including a blistering 57.7% in the first half in building a big lead, and cruised to the state semifinals for the first time in the young program’s history.
On the other end, the Scotties (21-4) could never find their range, shooting just 27.5% from the field. Tanner Goldsmith scored 11 points for Freeman, which plays King’s at 10:30 a.m. in a loser-out contest.
Reggie Lester led Annie Wright with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field. Martin Kaupanger added 15.
Seattle Academy 60, Riverside 51 (OT): Hunter Ackerley scored a team-high 17 points as Seattle Academy registered a wild fourth-quarter rally – and won the game in overtime.
Riverside held a 40-27 lead early in the fourth quarter before the Cardinals scored 22 of the next 25 points.
Jake Graham scored 19 points for the Rams (18-7), who play Seton Catholic at 9 a.m. Friday in a loser-out contest.
Girls
Deer Park 68, Cashmere 38: Ashlan Bryant scored 19 points, Emma Bryant added 17 points and Brooklyn Coe hit five 3-pointers and the second-seeded Stags (25-0) beat the ninth-seeded Bulldogs (20-6) in a quarterfinal.
Deer Park, which led 36-15 at halftime, advances to a semifinal against third-seeded Lynden Christian on Friday at 9 p.m.
Wapato 69, Lakeside 64: The Eagles’ solid shooting couldn’t overcome the hot-shooting Wolves, who connected on 50% of their attempts from the field to advance to the semifinals for the second straight year.
Trin Wheeler scored a game-high 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor to lead four in double figures for Wapato. Deets Parrish scored 14, and Jordan Espinoza and Kobe Johnson added 12 apiece.
Ayanna Tobeck topped Lakeside with 15 points. Rylee Darnold and Macy Cummings added 12 and 10, respectively. The Eagles (20-6) face Seattle Academy in a loser-out game at 12:15 p.m. Friday.