Sumner headed to 4A title game for first time in history after 64-55 win over Pasco in semifinals
Linus knows, sometimes all it takes is your trusty security blanket.
For the Sumner Spartans girls basketball team, that safety net is embodied in its 6-foot-1 senior, Alyson Deaver. And the Spartans security blanket made sure everyone driving home from the Tacoma Dome after the Class 4A state semifinals on Friday night did so all warm and fuzzy.
Deaver did a little of everything for Sumner during its 64-55 victory over Pasco.
She scored a team-high 19 points, including 12 in the second half. She grabbed 10 rebounds and added a pair of assists.
And she was a calming force in the backcourt when the Spartans played almost seven minutes without their point guard due to an injury suffered on the floor. And Deaver helped break pressure when her sister, Catelyn Deaver, had to take a seat for nearly three minutes of the fourth quarter after picking up her fourth foul.
Just all in a day’s work.
“It was every single one of us, getting a team win,” Deaver said. “I think that’s what is going to get us a championship.”
Ah yes, the championship. In the program’s first-ever trip to the Dome, the Spartans will play for the big trophy. Tipoff is at 5 p.m. on Saturday in the matchup most have yearned for — No. 2 Sumner vs. No. 1 Woodinville.
The Falcons earned their third trip to the state title game in the last four tournaments with a 59-55 win over Eastlake earlier on Friday.
“I don’t know who will win this next game,” Woodinville coach Scott Bullock said. “But Sumner looks really, really strong.”
It took some time for Sumner to assert a measure of control over the semifinal. Though the Spartans (24-2) forged a 29-24 lead with 1:11 to play in the first half, the Bulldogs (23-2) scored the final five points of the second quarter to earn a 29-29 tie at the break.
Then Mya Groce, who finished with a game-high 21 points, and Tajia Mackey scored the first two buckets of the third quarter and Pasco suddenly led the semifinal, 33-29. Sumner and the Deavers then seized control.
Catelyn Deaver scored a pair of baskets, part of her 11 points. Alyson Deaver made two baskets and five of six free throws, and the Spartans closed out the quarter on a 22-10 run to take an eight point lead heading into the final eight minutes, 51-43.
“That one was crazy,” Sumner coach Katie Hyppa said. “A little less stressful than yesterday, but not by much. Today, at least we had a little more control of the game I felt like.”
The Bulldogs made a last run over the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, closing within five on three occasions. The last came with 4:56 to play, when Taleya Malden made two free throws for Pasco to make it 57-52, and getting to within four on a Leanna Lepe 3-pointer with 1:55 left.
But in the end, Sumner got its second-ever win at the Dome, and its first chance at a title.
“I don’t think Sumner has ever been, well it’s been a long time (the boys lost the title contest in 1960),” Hyppa said. “They’ve stuck together, this team. It’s a fun thing to watch and a fun thing to coach. We’re going to celebrate it.”
