Shorecrest jumps on Capital early, cruises into 3A girls quarterfinals
Shooting in the Tacoma Dome, especially on the first day of games, at the state tournament, has been known to be somewhat of a crapshoot. Some teams seem unaffected by the lack of backdrop behind the hoops, while others struggle mightily to get shots to fall.
Unfortunately for the Capital girls basketball team, they struggled mightily and were blown out by No. 5 ranked Shorecrest in a loser-out game on Wednesday night.
The 12th-ranked Cougars shot just 11-for-45 (24.4 percent) and 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) from 3-point range in a 51-34 loss that ended their season. All three of the Cougars makes from beyond the 3-point arc came in the final quarter after the outcome of the game was no longer in doubt.
“The Dome is weird, so it was partly that,” Shorecrest senior guard Amanda Lee said of the Cougars shooting woes. “But also, we’ve prided ourselves on good defense and holding teams to less points than they usually score in an average game. I think we did the same thing in this game.”
The shooting woes didn’t seem to have an impact on Lee, especially in the first half. Lee scored 11 of her 13 points in the first two quarters and shot 5-for-9 from the field. She cooled some in the second half, finishing just 6-for-14, but her effort in the first two quarters helped the Scots build a 29-12 lead at halftime.
Senior Sydney VanNess and junior Kiana Lino each added 11 points to help the Scots be balanced on the offensive end.
“Balanced scoring is something that we’re always after,” Shorecrest head coach Carlos Humphrey said. “Just in case teams kind of zero-in on your top scorer, that’s usually where coaches start. It’s good to know that we have two other positions that can scorer, and the youngsters, they’re getting more and more experience throughout the season. They can come in and score a little bit as well. We try to find the balance in everything that we do and not just put the pressure on one player. But yeah, (Amanda) came out and had a great first half.”
The Scots will play No. 3 Arlington at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday in the quarterfinals. The two teams play in the same league, Wesco 3A, and have met twice this season, splitting those games.
“I enjoy (Arlington head coach) Joe (Marsh), and I enjoy the Arlington Eagles,” Humphrey said. “It’s a nice, tough Wesco opponent. I’m happy that we’re represented on such a big stage, but yeah, we’re up for the challenge. We split with them (this season), and the third one will be equally as fun.”
Lee said the familiarity that the Scots and Eagles have with each other can be both positive and negative.
“It’s helpful, but it’s also detrimental in the way that they know us and they know how to play us,” Lee said. “They beat us just recently, but we beat them the first time. Arlington is a great team, so we just have to pick it up and put ourselves back together for the next game.”
At Tacoma Dome
Capital 4 8 6 16 - 34
Shorecrest 13 16 11 11 - 51
Capital – Kendall Hooper 2, Raegen Henry 9, Nicole Lindblom 14, Kyra Ashton 6, Amelia Grimsted 3, Alyssa Skipworth 0, Robin Rohrer 0, Olivia Henry 0, Sydney Riedel 0, Morgan Lamont 0, Taylor Skipworth 0, Dominique Neeley 0. Shorecrest – Maura Weaver 0, Amanda Lee 13, Taylor Svendsen 2, Sydney VanNess 11, Kiana Lino 11, Alexa Svendsen 3, Leila Hosn 6, Mila Friesch 0, Jocelyn Shea 0, Anais Kagarabi 5, Romy Nevens 0, Jordan Tikalsky 0.