Liesse, No. 6 Lake Washington stun top-seeded Eastside Catholic in 3A girls state semifinal

Coming into Friday’s 3A girls state semifinal game, top-ranked Eastside Catholic hadn’t lost a game against a team from the state of Washington this season. That didn’t deter the sixth-ranked Lake Washington Kangaroos, who have played three consecutive state tournament games like they were the team to beat coming in.

The Kangaroos scored the biggest upset of the tournament, beating the Crusaders 62-49 and earning a spot in the state championship game at 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Lake Washington shot 22-for-49 (44.9 percent) from the field and 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from 3-point range for the game, much better than the 18-for-63 (28.6 percent) and 2-for-17 (11.8) percent that Eastside Catholic shot.

“When you get hot, you get hot,” Lake Washington head coach Jeff Wilson said. “They consistently work hard every day, no matter what. That’s what we’ve prided ourselves on all year. Defensively, that was an unbelievable effort by our girls, especially in transition. And offensively, we moved the ball really well.”

Junior Sophia Liesse led the way for the Kangaroos, scoring 22 points. She shot 8-for-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from the 3-point-line.

“Sophia, as we tell everybody, is a full team player,” Wilson said. “She’s the only player on our team with over 100 rebounds, 100 steals, 100 assists and 100 points (this season). She’s such a unique player. She’s so multi-talented. One of the greatest kids I’ve ever coached.”

Liesse scored 10 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter when the Kangaroos put the Crusaders away.

“I didn’t know it was going to happen, but I think every game I’m just trying my hardest to do the best I can,” Liesse said.

The Kangaroos led by six going into the fourth quarter and the Crusaders scored first in the final stanza to cut their deficit to four. From that point, Lake Washington went on a 15-1 run and put the game out of reach for Eastside Catholic.

Sophomore Zaza Walton led Eastside Catholic (28-2) with 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Crusaders will play No. 3 Arlington at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the fourth/sixth-place game.

The Kangaroos (22-6) will play No. 9 Garfield for the title at 9 p.m. on Saturday. After the emotional win, Lake Washington, which has just two seniors, plans to use the time before the start of that game to prepare for their opponent.

“Tomorrow, we’re going to be so focused and locked in,” Liesse said. “We have all day to prepare, because our game is late, so I think we will have a lot of time to focus and really get ready for the game.”

At Tacoma Dome

Lake Washington- 25 13 8 16 - 62

Eastside Catholic- 17 15 8 9 - 49

Lake Washington – Sophia Liesse 22, Ellie Pederson 7, Elise Hani 6, Jen Estes 7, Rosa Smith 13, Sydney Hani 5, Emma Boctor 0, Hannah Sitterud 2. Eastside Catholic – Malia Samuels 11, Serena Daher 0, Imbie Jones 6, Miracle Sheppard 1, Zaza Walton 21, Isabel Sullivan 5, Briana Post 0, Makena Daggett 3, Eliyah Givens 2.