No. 10 Seattle Prep outlasts No. 7 Lincoln, advances to 3A quarterfinals
After three quarters, No. 7 Lincoln and No. 10 Seattle Prep were all tied up at 30 in Wednesday’s loser-out game of the 3A state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
But the Abes had trouble stopping one player throughout the game, Seattle Prep junior Molly Moffitt, and it was Moffitt who made several key plays down the stretch to help her team to a 43-36 win and a trip to Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Moffitt scored a game-high 22 points, which wasn’t overly surprising to Seattle Prep head coach Michael Elsner.
“She’s been doing that for us this year,” Elsner said. “She’s first-team all-league. She’s just a tough kid. She was in foul trouble, so she only played 21 minutes. It’s pretty nice to get 22 points in 21 minutes.”
Moffitt had six points in the fourth quarter, none bigger than a backdoor lob she converted with 1:45 to play in the game to give the Panthers a 39-36 lead. They would add four more free throws before the end of the game to make up the final margin of victory.
“Lincoln played a phenomenal game,” Moffitt said. “They’re very well-coached. I think we were a little bit nervous in the beginning and then we started to get it going.”
Long-range shooting didn’t play much of a factor in the game. The two teams combined to shoot just 3-for-21 from behind the 3-point line, and the Panthers were just 1-for-11.
“First game in the dome, I definitely think that’s a factor,” Moffitt said. “But I know those are going to drop. I have faith that those will sink eventually.”
The lead changed hands 10 times in the first half before the Panthers closed the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 24-17 advantage at halftime. Seattle Prep never trailed again, though the Abes come back to tie the game going into the fourth quarter. Despite not trailing in the second half, Elsner felt the pressure for all 32 minutes.
“It’s a little exhausting,” Elsner said of being a part of such a competitive game. “Lincoln is really good. (The Abes) played really hard and are really well-coached. They just want to get after it, and that’s kind of what we want to do too, so we knew it was going to be a hard-fought game. We just had to find ways in the end to get cheap buckets and key stops. We got a little fortunate here and there, and it was good for us.”
Junior forward Sharayah Johnson led the Abes with 12 points in defeat.
The Panthers will play No. 1 Eastside Catholic at 5:30 p.m. in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Crusaders beat the Panthers 52-42 earlier this season.
“We’re real excited,” Elsner said. “That’s what you want at state. You want to go play the best, and it’s going to be a good game. We feel good about ourselves. We know they are really, really good. …We just want to come out and play hard and play like ourselves. We don’t have to do anything other that be ourselves.”
At Tacoma Dome
Seattle Prep 7 17 6 13 - 43
Lincoln 8 9 13 6 - 36
Seattle Prep – Tamia Stricklin 12, Marie Hauck 3, Molly Moffitt 22, Emily Petro 2, McKenna Dorscht 4, Audrey Frigon 0, Sophie Lovejoy 0, Gabby Stuart 0. Lincoln – Kristol Ayson 5, Azriah Blackburn 0, Sharayah Johnson 12, Elizabeth Frazier 4, Malani Warren 9, Zaniya Banks 2, Simani Thomas 4, Savaliga Fifita 0, Nyahoak Rambang 0, Daylina Wilson 0.
This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 8:21 PM.
