Prep basketball roundup: McCall, Braggs lead No. 7 Lincoln girls past Kennedy

Seventy percent.

That is a good number for the 3A Narrows League champion Lincoln High School Abes to keep in mind as they head into the girls basketball postseason.

The scoring distribution for the seventh-ranked Abes was right on cue Thursday night as they overwhelmed Kennedy Catholic, 54-30, in a Class 3A tridistrict game in Tacoma.

Tamia Braggs is 6-foot-2. There are not many in the South Sound who have her size and skill set. She scored 14 quiet points Thursday.

Braggs was not the leading scorer — 5-10 Morticia McCall was, with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Like Braggs, she can post you up and take you off the dribble.

And Shawndreia Brown off the bench isn’t flashy. But she is also 5-10. And she can move defenders out of the paint.

So as coach Jamila Jones glanced at the scorebook, he certainly was pleased with what he saw from the Abes (20-1). Thirty-six of the team’s 54 points came near the basket.

“I love my bigs (post players) — all three of them,” Jones said. “For us to be good, it is more our guards being more patient. We still take a lot of (3-pointers) — and I don’t like them because they are usually quick ones.

“We are an inside-outside team.”

Down the stretch of the regular season and now in the playoffs, Jones has decided to turn the reins over to ninth-grader Faith Brantley at point guard. Brantley is patient on the offense end, making sure her bigger teammates touch the basketball.

Lincoln scored on five of its first six possessions Thursday to grab an 11-2 lead in the first 2:56.

“Early in the season, I understood (Brantley) would make freshman mistakes,” Jones said. “But she is a bulldog in practice. You know what you are going to get from her.”

Midway through a sloppy third quarter, Jones called timeout to give a pointed reminder to get the ball inside.

The Abes did. Twenty-one of their 24 points were scored among the three post players, led by McCall (11 of her 20 came in second half).

“Us touching the ball makes life a lot easier, because Coach (Jones) said it is hard for other teams to guard me and Tamia,” McCall said. “We are doing great right now — moving forward and moving on.”

With the Abes now on a 17-game winning streak, they are one game away from clinching a spot in the regional round. Lincoln next faces Auburn Mountainview at Franklin Pierce High School at noon on Saturday.

“We are really good when we move the ball and get multiple attacks,” Jones said. “I will play anybody when we do that.”

Auburn Mountainview 70, Shelton 37: Taylor Flores scored 25 points in three quarters as the Lions (16-4) cruised past the Highclimbers.

Flores was 7 of 10 from the 3-point line. Timber Ware led Shelton (10-11), scoring 10 points.

The Lions closed out the third quarter on a 27-8 run to seal a winner-to-state matchup. They advance to face Lincoln.

The Highclimbers face Kennedy Catholic in a loser-out game at noon on Saturday at Clover Park

At Bonney Lake 55, Capital 28: The Panthers led 15-2 after the first quarter and Samantha Boudreau led all scorers with 18 points for Bonney Lake (13-8).

Delani West led the Cougars with six points.

With a loss, Capital (9-12) heads to a loser-out game to face Enumclaw at 1:45 p.m. Saturday at Clover Park.

Bonney Lake will play eighth-ranked Prairie at 1:45 p.m Saturday at Franklin Pierce.

At No. 8 Prairie 60, Enumclaw 27: The Falcons held the Hornets to one point in the third quarter, outscoring them 23-1.

Sam Engebretsen led Enumclaw with five points. Jozie Tangeman scored 12 points for Prairie.

At No. 10 Wilson 56, Sumner 39: Erica Hamlin scored 21 points and Kiki Knox, the 3A Narrows co-MVP, had 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Rams (17-4) outscored the Spartans 33-19 in the first half and cruised from there.

The Spartans (10-11) fell behind early and could not catch up as Wilson was firing on all cylinders. Jaylin Borden led Sumner with 13 points.

Wilson advances to face Hazen in a winner-to-state game at 3:30 p.m Saturday at Franklin Pierce. Sumner will face Kelso at 3:30 p.m. at Clover Park in a loser-out game.

Columbia River 50, Central Kitsap 44: The Chieftains (12-9) widened the margin in the first half, outscoring the Cougars 29-23.

Central Kitsap (13-8) will face Peninsula (6-15) in a loser-out game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Clover Park.

At No. 5 Auburn Riverside 47, Peninsula 30: McKenzi Williams scored 18 points and Olivia Denton added 13 as the Ravens (21-0) kept their unbeaten streak alive.

They outscored the Seahawks 20-7 in the opening quarter and didn’t look back from there.

Auburn Riverside advances to a winner-to-state game against Columbia River at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Franklin Pierce.

2A SEA-KING/WEST CENTRAL

At Franklin Pierce 58, Kingston 48: Alexius Foster poured in a game-high 30 points, which helped lift the Cardinals to a 10-point victory over the Buccaneers. Aileen Kaye led the Buccaneers with 17.

Franklin Pierce (16-5) advances to play Renton at Foss at noon on Saturday in a winner-to-state game. Kingston (12-9) will play Sammamish at Curtis at Noon on Saturday in an elimination game.

River Ridge 61, Foster 30: Senior guard MaKenna Schultz scored a game-high 21 points, and the Hawks outscored the Bulldogs by 18 points in the first quarter en route to a 31-point victory.

“We got them in a situation where they had to play their half court and we played the lanes,” said River Ridge coach Steve Schultz, MaKenna’s father. “I don’t remember being in an offensive set that entire first quarter, we just kept pressure and kept stealing the ball.”

River Ridge (13-7) advance to play Port Angeles in a winner-to-state game at Foss on Saturday at 1:45 p.m. Foster (6-13) will play Steilacoom 1:45 p.m. Saturday at Curtis in an elimination game.

At No. 9 Port Angeles 40, Steilacoom 36: The Roughriders, propelled by their raucous home crowd, were able to force turnovers and build momentum late to defeat the Sentinels by four points.

Nizhoni Wheeler scored a team-high 12 for Port Angeles (19-3), while Steilacoom’s Nanalia Wagoner scored 13.

At Olympic 39, Fife 28: Katie Campana hit three 3-pointers, scored a game-high 20 points and led Olympic to an 11-point victory over Fife.

The second quarter was the difference, as Olympic held Fife to just three points.

Fife (10-12) will play Tyee at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Curtis in an elimination game.

At No. 5 White River 79, Bremerton 24: Sophomore guard Georgia Lavinder hit a school-record nine 3-pointers and scored 31 as the Hornets defeated the Knights by 55.

The Hornets (18-3) move on to play North Kitsap at Foss at 5:45 p.m. Saturday in a winner-to-state game.

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Prep basketball roundup: McCall, Braggs lead No. 7 Lincoln girls past Kennedy."