Give Anna Wilson a nail-biter over a blowout any day.
“We want more games like this,” the senior guard said after top-ranked Bellevue High School had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to beat No. 6 West Seattle, 58-50, in the semifinals of the SeaKing 3A District tournament girls basketball tournament Thursday at Bellevue College. “These are the games we want to be in. We want to be in tight games and we want to win.”
The Wolverines (24-0), rated as high as No. 14 nationally, have outscored opponents by an average of 40 points and until last week had not been tested by an in-state opponent. Then came a 65-55 win over Mercer Island in the KingCo championship game, where it took a 23-12 fourth quarter to close out a 65-55 victory.
This time, Bellevue trailed 46-44 before pulling away on a 14-2 run to advance to the championship game for the third straight year. The Wolverines play No. 5 Bishop Blanchet Saturday at 8:15. The Braves (23-1) beat No. 8 Mercer Island in the second semifinal Thursday, 58-53. West Seattle (22-2) takes on MI (19-5) for third and fourth places Saturday at 1:15. All four teams were already assured of regional berths.
Wilson, who has signed with Stanford, missed the entire second quarter after getting hit in the face late in the opening period and the Wolverines clearly missed her.
After racing to a 12-0 lead, they had given up eight straight points when Wilson went down with 1:11 left in the quarter. West Seattle wound up on a 17-0 run and Bellevue went scoreless for more than seven minutes.
The Wildcats led by nine before settling for a 28-23 advantage at the half.
Wilson, who had to pass a concussion protocol, made an immediate impact when she returned early in the third period, draining back-to-back 3-pointers. She had 18 of her 20 points in the half.
West Seattle, which features a pair of freshman guards, showed its youth in the final quarter with 10 turnovers and lost for the second time in three games after a 21-0 start.
“It was a big test and I think we battled all of the way to the end,” coach Darnell Taylor said. “Our ball-handlers are young….It was a good learning experience.”
No comments:
Post a Comment