Tumwater girls shake off jitters to put away East Valley, 43-38, in 2A quarterfinals
To say Tumwater High School’s girls were unfamiliar with the environment at the 2A state tournament is an understatement.
Not only had none of the T-Birds played at state before, only three had ever seen a state tournament game as a spectator.
The result was a ragged first quarter for both third-seeded Tumwater and hometown East Valley of Yakima before Tumwater (24-2) shook off early jitters to claim a 43-38 victory over the Red Devils (17-7) Thursday at the Yakima Valley SunDome and advance to Friday’s 5:30 p.m. semi-final against West Valley (Spokane), which defeated Tumwater’s 2A EvCo peer W.F. West on a buzzer-beater in the subsequent game.
No. 13 East Valley was seeking a second upset, having eliminated No. 4 White River in Wednesday’s play-in round, 44-35. The Red Devils success didn’t surprise Tumwater coach Robin Johnson.
“It was our kids’ first time at state. Nothing would have surprised me,” she said.
Tumwater got the lead first, 1-0, on a free throw by Isabella Lund but could only get a three-pointer and a putback by senior Olivia Bailon the rest of the first quarter. The period ended in a 6-6 tie.
Bailon would finish with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double.
“I’d say there were a lot of nerves, since this was our first time playing in this environment,” she said of the slow start. “We’ve been waiting for state forever.”
Though she helped spark the T-Birds seizing of the momentum, Bailon said she didn’t feel any special pressure as the team’s lone senior to make something happen.
“Every player on our team has an individual role to play and sometimes it works out that way,” she said.
Cassie Kaufman, who contributed nine rebounds and a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch, credited Johnson for calming the team down as the game progressed.
“She told us we’d worked all season for this, so enjoy the experience,” Kaufman said.
Tumwater met a pair of its ongoing numerical goals – to outrebound their opponent and commit fewer than 12 turnovers. For the 25th time in 26 games, the T-Birds won the battle of the boards, 48-30 and had only 10 turnovers.
The T-Birds 5-foot-10 sophomore Natalie Sumrok, who tied Bailon for the team lead with 13 points, opened the second quarter with three baskets in the first two minutes to spark a Tumwater burst that gave them a 22-16 lead at the half.
The third quarter opened as if it would be a runaway for the T-Birds as they surged to their biggest lead of the afternoon, 31-18, midway through the period.
“Our defense was really good. Ashlynn Sylve (East Valley’s 5-8 junior guard who Tumwater held to 2-of-12 shooting) is a phenomenal player and we held her down. Our game plan was to stop her and make them get some buckets other places.”
But with three different players contributing 3-point baskets, the Devils rallied.
Karina Hibbit, who led East Valley in scoring with 12, pared the margin to three, 35-32, with a trey from the top of the key. Three times, East Valley got the ball back with a chance to tie or at least cut the lead to single point, but didn’t.
The fourth time was a charm as Hibbit again connected to tie the score.
“We kind of lost our momentum, but that was on me, some of the decisions I made,” Johnson admitted.
Tumwater called timeout and immediately got a pair of baskets from Sumrok, one cutting to the basket on a nice feed from Bailon.
East Valley would score only once more, on a 3-pointer from out top by Jaelynn Livingston and pairs of free throws in the final minute by Cassie Kaufman and Aubrey Amendala iced it.
“I knew I had to put them in to give us a bigger lead, but I knew I was on from the start of the game,” Kaufman said.