Recaps, highlights from quarterfinals at 4A and 3A state girls basketball tournaments
Between the Class 4A and 3A girls state tournaments, 30 high school basketball games will be played in the Tacoma Dome this weekend. The News Tribune will be at all of them, providing game recaps, highlights, interviews, stats and more.
Follow along for live updates from Thursday’s quarterfinals:
CLASS 4A
Quarterfinals
No. 11 Kennedy Catholic 65, No. 5 Gonzaga Prep 52
If you’ve never heard the name Jayden Fitzgerald before or seen her play, the first time you watch you may be tempted to look at your program for more information on the standout guard.
That number 10 next to her grade in school is not a mistake.
The sophomore may be young and she may be small in stature, but the 5-foot-5 point guard is filling up the stat sheet and has the No. 11 Lancers one game away from the 4A state championship game.
Fitzgerald scored a game-high 32 points to lead the Lancers to a 65-52 victory over No. 5 Gonzaga Prep in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“That’s Jayden Fitzgerald,” Kennedy Catholic head coach Michael Brooks said. “She’s the leader of our team. She’s humble. She’s the hardest worker. And she puts people in places to be successful. We’re blessed to be able to have her as our point guard. She makes everybody better and it’s a fun thing to witness. She doesn’t need the acclaim. She just wants to play as hard as she can and have everyone play that hard with her.
“It’s just cool to watch a 15-year-old be able to play that way.”
Fitzgerald led the Lancers scoring attack in Wednesday’s loser-out win over No. 3 Chiawana with 15, but shot just 3 of 13 from the field and nine of those 15 points came from the free-throw line.
Fitzgerald shot a much better percentage on Thursday, finishing 11-for-23 from the field, including 2-for-3 from three-point range.
“They couldn’t stay in front of me, so (I) was just attacking every time,” Fitzgerald said.
The Lancers (19-7) entered the tournament as the No. 11 seed, but that is nothing more than a number to Fitzgerald and her teammates.
“It doesn’t mean anything to us,” she said. “We expected to be in this spot.”
Kennedy led 49-46 after three quarters, but outscored the Bullpups (22-2) 16-6 in the final quarter to pull away.
“We just knew we could do it,” Fitzgerald said. “We were just being aggressive and we had to rebound. We had that stretch where we couldn’t rebound, so just rebounding.”
Fitzgerald credited rebounding with helping the Lancers pull away. Brooks praised his team’s defensive effort and their effort on the boards.
“Being able to play man and zone and having a team that can battle and do different things, it really helps us out,” Brooks said. “We were forcing them to take some tough shots. And then rebounding. Once we were able to establish our rebounding presence, that allowed us to get out in transition.”
Kennedy Catholic will play defending state champion and top-seed Davis at 3:45 p.m. Friday with the winner of that game heading to the state championship game on Saturday.
“It’s probably going to be our hardest game,” Fitzgerald said. “But we can show up and give a battle, so we’re just all going to show up and do that for each other.”
No. 1 Davis 76, No. 10 Lake Stevens 56
The top-ranked Pirates rolled past the Vikings to return to the semifinals for a third straight season on Thursday.
Davis (22-2), which won the title in 2025, was led in scoring by junior Isa Garcia, who finished with 24 points, shooting 10-for-20 from the field and making four 3s.
“She played her normal game,” Davis head coach Akil White said. “She’s an underrated kid.”
While Garcia led the team in scoring, fellow junior Cheyenne Hull had the most impressive stat line. She almost quietly finished with 22 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists.
“I think the bigger picture is just the score (of the game), Hull said. “The rebounding is kind of my biggest thing, like just get boards no matter what. When I know some people are making shots, I’ll go clean it up and get it back to them. I’m just kind of worried about playing defense. I’m not really paying attention to my (scoring).”
Hull and Garcia were joined in double-digit scoring by junior Kobe Johnson (12) and senior Deets Parrish (10).
The Pirates will play No. 11 Kennedy Catholic at 3:45 p.m. on Friday for a spot in the state championship game.
No. 6 Lake Washington 55, No. 4 Woodinville 50
Winning a game at the state tournament is sweet, beating your rival is that much sweeter.
The No. 6 Kangaroos (20-7) held off No. 4 Woodinville (25-5) to advance to Friday’s semifinals where it will face the winner of No. 8 Sumner and No. 2 Union.
The Kangaroos and Falcons had met three times previously this season, with the Falcons winning two of those matchups.
Junior Julia Benthin led Lake Washington with 21 points and 10 rebounds. She also made nine of her 10 free-throw attempts.
“It feels so good,” Benthin said after the game. “We worked our butts off. Obviously coming from those two losses gave us an extra boost and fire going into the game.”
Woodinville senior Jazlyn Wilkerson scored 21 points to lead the Falcons, but shot just 6-for-23 from the field.
“Our plan was just to keep her in front of us,” Benthin said. “And to keep a hand up because we know she’s a great shooter and we respect that.”
No. 8 Sumner 58, No. 2 Union 53
It doesn’t seem to matter the record or the seeding, the Sumner girls basketball team seemingly finds itself in the same position every year.
The No. 8 Spartans (26-4) held off a furious rally by No. 2 Union (25-3) and scored the game’s final five points in a 58-53 victory in Friday’s quarterfinals. It’s the fourth time in five seasons that Sumner has advanced to the semifinals of the 4A state tournament.
Sumner will face No. 6 Lake Washington at 5:30 p.m. on Friday with a spot in the championship game on the line. The Spartans are looking to advance to their third championship game in the last five state tournaments and trying to do it as an eight-seed in back-to-back seasons. The Spartans previously made the championship in 2022, falling to Woodinville, and in 2025, falling to Davis.
Junior Kawehi Borden started slow in Wednesday’s loser-out win over ninth-seeded Auburn. The Tigers held Borden scoreless in the first half before she came alive for 15 in the second, leading her team to a 51-40 win.
There were no slow starts for Borden on Thursday. She led her team with 27 points, scoring 14 in the first half on 6-for-9 shooting. She finished the game 12-for-18 from the field.
“We goes as she goes,” Sumner head coach Katie Hyppa said of Borden. “She’s a heck of a player, obviously, so I know there is a lot on her. But today I was really proud of her. (She was) just being confident and attacking in the middle.”
In order to come out with the win, Hyppa and the Spartans had to try to do something to stop Union senior guard Brooklynn Haywood, who entered Thursday’s game 100 points behind former Cashmere star Hailey Van Lith for the all-time lead in career scoring for a Washington high school player.
“Hats off to Brooklynn,” Hyppa said. “She’s a heck of a player. She’s obviously earned all the accolades. Credit to her, she’s had a heck of a career these last four years.”
Haywood finished with 32 points on 10-for-23 shooting, but they were a hard-earned 32 points.
“We knew coming in that we had to have a gameplan and ultimately it came down to executing it,” Hyppa said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of it. She still got her 32, but there were times that we were trying to put the ball in the hands of other kids. If we were going to lose that game, we wanted it not to be to her single-handily, which she almost willed her way to.”
It wasn’t just Borden scoring the big buckets for Sumner. Senior guard Kessa Nohr scored her only points of the game on a baseline runner with just over a minute remaining that gave the Sparts the lead for good. Junior Raymiah Jackson added 12 points, including three big free throws in the final second that helped secure the victory.
“Sometimes you, sometimes me, always us is what we say,” Hyppa said. “That was true today.”
CLASS 3A
Quarterfinals
No. 4 Roosevelt 49, No. 11 Lakeside 41
Sometimes it pays off to be familiar with your opponent. That could be said for the No. 4 Roughriders (22-4) who after their quarterfinal win over the Lions on Thursday, have beat the Lions (19-11) three of the four times the two teams have played this season.
“I think it helped us in the sense that we were able to remain calm,” senior guard Giselle Dollar said. “We’ve had a bunch of close games with them, and we know how they play, so we knew it might be a close game and just to stay consistent.
Dollar led the Roughriders with 15 points, including three 3-pointers.
But she didn’t have to shoulder the offensive load all by herself. She was joined in double-figure scoring by junior Emma Curtis (12) and freshman Sloane Sprangers (10).
The Roughriders will face the winner of No. 1 Bellevue and No. 7 Evergreen at 7:15 p.m. on Friday for a spot in the 3A state championship game. The Roughriders will be in for a challenge whoever they play, but the idea of facing the Wolverines was exciting for Dollar.
“We’re really excited,” Dollar said. “We’ve played them before. RPI-wise, we were (No.) 2 for the longest time, so in my mind it’s a one-two game. We’re at the same level they are. We’re the best in the Metro and they’re the best in their league. I’m excited to go head-to-head with them again.”
Roosevelt and Bellevue met on February 19, with the Wolverines winning 68-57 – one of the Roughriders’ four losses this season.
No. 1 Bellevue 56, No. 7 Evergreen 46
The Plainsmen (21-7) put a scare into top-ranked Bellevue (25-3), but the Wolverines were able to hang on to advance to Friday’s semifinals at 7:15 p.m. where they will face No. 4 Roosevelt.
Evergreen had cut the deficit to four with just under four minutes to play in the fourth quarter, but had trouble securing a defensive rebound on multiple Bellevue possessions resulting in the Wolverines being able to run clock and ultimately hang on for the win.
“I think the difference is that we got more offensive rebounds,” freshman Iyla Jones said. “That helped us get second chances, and ones, and fouls. I feel like having that energy towards the end really helped us.”
The Wolverines were led by Jones, who finished with 12 points.
Senior Kimora Ross had 16 for Evergreen, leading all scorers.
Even in victory, great teams always find places they can improve. Sometimes it’s hard to find, and sometimes it’s right on the surface. The Wolverines don’t have to look far for what they will need to do better if they are going to leave the Tacoma Dome with a championship Saturday night.
Bellevue shot just 10-for-32 from the free-throw line, and Jones missed all six of her attempts. Several misses late in the game let Evergreen stay in the game longer than it otherwise might have.
“It was very concerning,” Jones said of the Wolverines’ free-throw shooting. “Me myself, I’m usually like 100 percent from the free-throw line and I missed all six, which is crazy. I think we need to just stop getting in our heads and just block out the outside noise.”
No. 6 Eastside Catholic 59, No. 12 White River 40
Judging from the youth on No. 6 Eastside Catholic’s roster, the Crusaders (19-7) look to be a force in the 3A ranks for years to come. No. 12 White River (19-7) put up little resistance as the Crusaders rolled to win in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“In upcoming years, we definitely have a really good roster coming up,” freshman Raquel Dunnam said. “We’re hoping to be here next year and the years after that.”
Eastside Catholic, which has just two seniors on its roster, was led by Dunnam, who finished with 17 points. All 17 of her points came in the first half, including five 3-pointers. Dunnam’s 17 first-half points matched the total output of the entire White River team.
“I put my faith in God,” Dunnam said after the game. “I trusted him to help me.”
Sophomore Amy Nduka added 15 points and 12 rebounds, and fellow sophomore Sophie Lugolobi had 12 points and 8 rebounds for Eastside Catholic.
Junior Maggee Schmitz led the Hornets with 18 points, but shot just 4-for-18 from the field.
The Crusaders will play at 9 p.m. on Friday against the winner of No. 9 Stanwood and No. 2 Snohomish for a spot in Saturday’s championship game. White River, which can still place as high as fourth, will play the loser of that game at 2 p.m. on Friday in a loser-out game.
No. 2 Snohomish 41, No. 9 Stanwood 36 (OT)
It took a little longer than the second-seeded Panthers would’ve liked, but in the end, there was no stopping guad Sienna Capelli. She scored a layup midway through overtime, converted a difficult fadeaway shot and assisted the overtime period’s dagger to teammate Grace Gunnerson to put the Spartans away.
Capelli accounted for the vast majority of her teams points, scoring 30 of the team’s 41 points. She posted a double-double with 30 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and three steals.
Snohomish will face No. 6 Eastside Catholic in the semiifnals on Friday night.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 1:07 PM.
