Auburn falls to Stanwood in 3A state girls tournament, 53-39
The Auburn Trojans first trip back to the girls 3A state basketball tournament turned out to be short-lived.
Though they managed to challenge the more physical seventh-seeded Stanwood Spartans into the second half, the size embodied by Vivienne Berrett inside eventually asserted itself as Stanwood pulled away for a 53-39 first-round Class 3A victory.
“They were physical with us in the second half, and we struggle with physicality,” Auburn coach Jon Price said.
The victory propels the seventh-seeded Spartans into a 5:30 p.m. quarterfinal on Thursday against the tournament’s top seed in Mead.
For most of the first half, the Trojans made a concerted effort to front the 6-foot-4 Spartans junior, while double-teaming her with a second defender behind. But outside of the few minutes that Price went to 6-2 Tamia Jeffries, Auburn was doing so with much shorter and smaller players.
“We had a game-plan there,” Price said. “We had multiple things we wanted to do. And we’re guarding her with a 5-7 kid.”
That 5-7 kid was Rachel Crook, who gamely attempted to slow Berrett inside. For a half it seemed to work, with Crook even drawing an offensive foul on the Spartans big post.
“That’s every game for her,” Price said of his 5-7 post player. “She’s one of the hardest competitors out there. She’s played the whole season with a torn meniscus. That’s why she wears a brace.”
Still, slightly limping and at times in obvious pain, Crook had an impact.
“The tough double-team kinda got in her head a little bit,” Stanwood coach Alex Iverson said. “But we told her, you’ve got to keep going to the rim. Don’t think about the double-team. Don’t think about the refs. Just make your read. And she’s a phenomenal post.”
Berrett eventually finished with 13 points and she grabbed 14 rebounds. Her presence opened up the outside, where Grace Walker was ready to take advantage on Wednesday.
The junior made six of her seven overall shots, including four of five from behind the 3-point arc, to finish with a game-high 17 points.
“I had a lot of open shots tonight,” Walker said. “In the past, I haven’t taken them. But the first one went in tonight, so I just kept taking them.”
Walker scored her first 3-pointer just 27 seconds into the contest as Stanwood scored the game’s first eight points overall. The Spartans led it 10-2 before Auburn clawed its way back into it.
Madelyn Brown made the final shot of the third quarter for Auburn, cutting its deficit to 10-4 heading into the second quarter. The Trojans built on that momentum to eventually build an 18-13 lead thanks to its 16-3 run broken up only by Walker’s second 3-pointer with 4:29 left in the half.
“I think we got out hard, but the nerves finally caught up to us,” Iverson said. “We talked about it at halftime. If you want to win here, you’ve got to rebound at both ends of the court.”
Stanwood turned things around, though, and scored the final eight points of the second quarter to retake the lead, 21-20, at the break.
Auburn never led again in its first trip back to the Tacoma Dome since the 2007-2008 season. Just getting back, though, was an important step for Price’s program.
“These kids set a legacy,” Price said. “The girls have won the division twice in a row. They played for a championship a couple of weeks ago. They’ve won at state (regionals) – they beat West Seattle last week. Those are really impressive things.”