Bellevue overcomes slow start; knocks off Mt. Spokane 62-53

The No. 1 Bellevue Wolverines overcame a sluggish first half and early foul trouble to defeat the Mt. Spokane Wildcats 62-53 at the 3A state tournament Thursday at the Tacoma Dome.

Though the Wolverines led 28-25 at halftime, it was far from their best showing. Three starters, Anna Wilson, Shelby Cansler and Mackenzie Keeter all had three fouls going into the break. On top of the early foul trouble, the Wolverines rushed their shots against the Wildcats 2-3 zone, settling for early threes.

They converted just 2 of their 14 first-half attempts from deep.

The Wolverines regrouped at halftime and changed their plan of attack.

Quinessa Caylao-Do led the Wolverines with a team-high 14 points.

“In the first half we were rushing our shots because we were open so we thought we could just shoot,” Caylao-Do said. “So then we went to drive to the basket and kick and give it the post more because they were in foul trouble a little bit.”

The change paid off, as the Wolverines scored 34 second-half points, propelled by a commitment to attack the paint as well as the glass, and pulled down 30 offensive rebounds for the game.

Wilson, Bellevue’s point guard and a Stanford commit, picked up two fouls less than two minutes into the game and then picked up her third just twenty seconds into the second quarter. Head coach Leah Krautter rolled the dice and kept Wilson in the game, saying she trusted Wilson to play smart.

“I looked at her and kind of communicated that I trust her to keep her hands out of there and she’s a smart player so she knows how to play that situation.”

Jaidyn Lyman scored a game-high 21 points for the Wildcats.

The Wolverines will play No. 2 Lynnwood in the semi-finals at 7:15 p.m. Friday at the Tacoma Dome.

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Bellevue overcomes slow start; knocks off Mt. Spokane 62-53."