3 takeaways: Sumner girls win the 4A SPSL championship, beating Bellarmine Prep
The Sumner High School girls basketball team defeated Bellarmine Prep on Thursday night in Puyallup, 58-48, in the Class 4A South Puget Sound League tournament championship game. Here are three takeaways from Sumner’s win.
Spartans jump out to early lead, never look back
The tone was set in the first quarter, with Sumner’s full-court press leaving Bellarmine flummoxed early on. The Spartans jumped out to an early lead and kept Bellarmine at arm’s length the rest of the contest. The final result was never in doubt.
“It was very important,” said junior forward Alyson Deaver, who scored a game-high 23 points in the win. “Because we knew Bellarmine was going to bring it. They bring it every single game. We knew they were ready to battle, so we had to come out hard and with a lot of aggression.”
Deaver’s twin sister Catelyn was forced to leave the game just before halftime with an apparent hand injury. Bellarmine never found a comfortable offensive rhythm.
“We made sure we were really aggressive on traps and on our press,” Deaver said. “Our press really helped us get into the game and get some more steals, chances at fast breaks.”
Sumner coach Brett McDaniel said he showed his players videos of boxer Mike Tyson as motivation, inspiring the mantra “Get in the ring.” He was expecting a physical match against Bellarmine.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” he said. “Everything was about rounds for us. We just wanted to have four good rounds and each round just come out fighting, and getting in the ring. That’s what we call it defensively, just playing really solid man-to-man. We played a lot better last night, but credit to Bellarmine. They just played super hard.”
Sumner finished the season with a 15-1 record, with the lone loss coming to Emerald Ridge, 73-70 in the second game of the season.
SUMNER WILL BE A THREAT IN FULL SEASON
Assuming the 2021-22 school year will be a normal school year — and at this point, we should probably knock on wood, to be safe — Sumner should be a threat in the Class 4A state tournament.
The Deaver sisters return with a quality surrounding cast, including freshman Lainee Houillon, who scored seven points in the win and looks poised for a bigger role as a sophomore.
“Just the ability to work and be out on the floor with my teammates,” Deaver said. “We all have that telepathy, we know where each other are going to be. We all share the ball so well, so it’s super nice to be able to play with them. … We’re so excited (for next season). We’re trying to make a run for state next year.”
The Spartans will lose seniors Karina McMillan and Anuhea Borden, but return the rest of the roster.
“It’s going to be super exciting,” McDaniel said. “I think the only thing that can hurt us is if we get hurt. So I think it’s just a matter of us staying injury free and if we can do that … it’s going to be a fun team for us this year. We’ll see how deep we can go.”
BELLARMINE WILL MISS THE CUSACK SISTERS
Senior twin sisters Rowan and Riley Cusack, both 5-foot-5, are just plain fun high school basketball players — bouncy, quick, havoc-creating guards who never stop moving. Picture the Energizer Bunny drinking a Red Bull.
Rowan finished with a team-high 18 points for the Lions, while Riley added nine points. The sisters were a big reason Bellarmine made it to the tournament championship game, despite losing the team’s two best players to graduations last year, in TNT All-Area first-team selection Callie Stevens and Notre Dame golfer Julia Bordeaux.
“Credit to Bellarmine,” McDaniel said. “They played a tough game. They’ve improved every game. It was really fun for us to get challenged the way we did.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2021 at 12:36 AM.
