Madison Pollock, Snohomish headed to 4A state title game with 47-41 win over Bothell

Madison Pollock was unaware she had made none of her 12 shots in the first half Friday.

“Oh … that’s bad,” she said with a laugh, when informed.

Her play in the second half — as the Snohomish girls basketball team pulled away for a 47-41 victory over Bothell — wasn’t. She scored 17 points, as did Madeline Smith, and the Panthers used a dominant defensive effort to win their 22nd consecutive game and advance to the 4A state championship game for the fourth time in school history.

Snohomish (22-3), hoping to win its first state title, will play Central Valley at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Tacoma Dome.

This after the Panthers started the season with three consecutive losses — to Glacier Peak, Arlington and Lynnwood.

But Snohomish coach Ken Roberts claims he called this.

“I told them after the third game that we could win 23 in a row,” Roberts said.

Though Pollock said it was really Thursday — after Snohomish beat Lewis and Clark, when Pollock hit the tying shot at the regulation buzzer to send the game to overtime — that it hit her.

“We talked about it after the game: We actually have a good shot of getting the championship. It’s just one more game and the championship” said Pollock, a 6-foot-1 senior forward who signed her letter of intent to play at the University of San Diego.

“We’ve always dreamed of reaching the state championship and now it’s actually happening. It’s an awesome feeling.”

It was so low scoring Friday that Snohomish and Bothell had combined for 24 points at halftime, with the Panthers up 14-10, and Bothell had made 5 of 30 shots (16.7 percent).

Pollock didn’t shoot so great, either. But she scored Snohomish’s first points of the second half when she finished on a drive from the top of the key.

So Pollock got going. But Bothell never did. It trailed 29-15 at the start of the fourth quarter and 35-17 with about five minutes to play.

“They played good defense,” Bothell coach Kent Shaefer said. “They are long and they are aggressive and they are physical. And we didn’t do the disciplined things you have to do to play against an aggressive team.”

Bothell will still leave the Tacoma Dome with its highest finish in state history, playing Todd Beamer for third or fifth place at 11:15 a.m. Saturday.

Bothell (24-2) did make it interesting with three 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. The Cougars scored 26 points in the fourth quarter.

“They were making 3s nonstop. I was like ‘Dang,’ ” Pollock laughed. “It was a little nerve-racking.”

“At the five-minute mark I go ‘Honestly, girls — if you just play defense for three more minutes; I know you are all tired, just give me three minutes,’ ” Roberts said.

“They hit three in a row. Timeout. That wasn’t what I wanted (laughs).”

But now Snohomish is in the state championship game for the first time since losing to Lindsey Moore-led Kentwood in 2009.

“It’s an unreal feeling being there, but to win it all would be a dream come true,” Pollock said. “Not just for this senior group, but for everyone.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 7:51 PM with the headline "Madison Pollock, Snohomish headed to 4A state title game with 47-41 win over Bothell."