No. 8 Skyview girls knock Bellarmine Prep out of postseason, 64-37

For nearly a month, the Bellarmine Prep girls were just trying to hold on.

And on Friday, the Lions’ grip finally loosened.

Eighth-ranked Skyview could not miss — literally — in the fourth quarter, finally pulling away for a 64-37 victory in the Class 4A regional round of the state tournament at Battle Ground High School.

Winner of 15 games in a row, the Storm (20-4) advanced to the state quarterfinals next Thursday in the Tacoma Dome.

Hanna VanNortwick led Skyview with 17 points. Ashlee Comastro added 16. The Storm exploded for 31 points in the final quarter.

Once Skyview fixed its turnover ails, it got the ball inside at will, especially to Comastro, a 6-foot-1 junior.

Skyview made nine of 10 field goals over the final eight minutes, and was 10-of-11 from the free throw line.

This all came after the Storm was forced into 16 first-half turnovers.

“We had to make some adjustments at halftime,” Skyview coach Jennifer Buscher said. “We settled down a bit.”

Creating havoc, especially with Jayana Ervin, was really the only way the Lions were going to hang around without their best offensive player – sophomore Shalyse Smith, who missed her ninth consecutive game with an academic issue, but was expected to return if the Lions (18-8) had reached the 4A quarterfinals.

“We go to war with who you’ve got,” Bellarmine Prep coach Kevin Meines said. “That first half was the best half we played all year defensively.”

And Jenny Hagle’s 3-pointer late in the third quarter cut Skyview’s lead to 31-28.

But the Storm scored on four consecutive possessions in the first 2:29 of the final quarter to grab a 41-31 lead.

And with Ervin in foul trouble, the Lions’ defense was not as suffocating – evidenced by the way the Storm kept pouring it on.

Ervin eventually fouled out with 3:01 to go. She tallied 10 points.

Bellarmine Prep finished the game 13-of-58 from the floor. The Storm was 22 of 38.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 11:02 PM with the headline "No. 8 Skyview girls knock Bellarmine Prep out of postseason, 64-37."