Annie Wright extends streak, secures trip to 1A quarterfinals with win over Toppenish
Annie Wright will carry a 17-game winning streak into the Class 1A state tournament in Yakima.
The No. 3 Gators added another convincing victory to an already impressive season Saturday afternoon at Tacoma Community College, routing visiting No. 6 Toppenish, 74-55, in the regional round.
This latest win earns Annie Wright (23-1) a first-round bye at the Yakima Valley SunDome, and sends them directly to Thursday’s state quarterfinals.
The Gators have already won an undefeated 1A Nisqually League title this season, and added a 1A West Central District championship last week.
They still haven’t lost to an in-state opponent this season.
Saturday afternoon, they made sure this winning stretch continued, working through a back-and-forth first half that included six lead changes and three ties before running away from Toppenish in the final two quarters.
“Coming in, our big thing was focus and keeping our composure against adversity,” Annie Wright guard Jeremiah Harshman said. “ … This game, I thought we did a good job of keeping it.”
The teams swapped the lead often in the opening minutes, and the lead hovered between one and two possessions during the first quarter before Annie Wright eventually built a double-digit lead early in the second quarter on a 3-pointer from Gabe Walsh that made it 25-15.
But, the Wildcats responded with a 16-5 run, and took a one-point lead on a Shane Rivera 3-pointer with 2:10 to play in the half.
Annie Wright’s Martin Kaupanger took it back for good seconds later with another triple, and the Gators eventually took a 39-33 lead they never lost into the break.
Then they posted a 24-point third quarter to run away with the win.
“We knew we had to just lock in and run our plays and we were going to win the game,” Kaupanger said.
Defensive adjustments — the Gators held the Wildcats to just two baskets from the floor in the third — also helped spark the third-quarter surge.
“Once we started focusing in on our defense, our offense started going,” Harshman said.
The Gators led by as many as 28 midway through the fourth quarter on a basket from Reggie Lester, and cruised to the win in the final few minutes.
Annie Wright got a balanced scoring effort with four players in double figures, and seven with multiple baskets.
“You never know who’s going to be on,” Williams said. “Anybody can be the leading scorer any night. So, it’s very valuable us, and I’m very happy to have that weapon.”
Amare Breedlove led the way with a team-high 18 points and added eight rebounds, while TJ Marshall had 13 points and eight rebounds and Lester had 11 points. Kaupanger completed a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Harshman added eight points and seven assists.
Shane Rivera scored a game-high 20 points for the Wildcats and added seven rebounds, while Josh Perez added 13 points, and Graysen Mesplie and Jayden Hanson each had eight.
Annie Wright move on to play the winner of Wednesday’s opening-round contest between No. 12 King’s Way Christian and No. 5 King’s in a quarterfinals matchup set for 7:15 p.m. Thursday in Yakima.
Toppenish (18-6) also advances to the Yakima Valley SunDome, and plays a loser-out contest against No. 14 Seton Catholic at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday.
This story was originally published February 25, 2023 at 6:53 PM.
