By Michael Carman

Peninsula Daily News

AUBURN — Sequim picked the best possible time to pitch a shutout.

But we aren’t talking baseball or softball, those spring sports start practices Monday.

Instead, the Wolves’ girls basketball team blanked the Foster Bulldogs 21-0 in the fourth quarter, stringing together defensive stop after defensive stop during a 28-0 run over the game’s final 12 minutes as Sequim erased an 18-point deficit to stun the Bulldogs 54-44 in a loser-out State Regional Round game and advance to the Class 2A State Tournament for the fourth time in school history.

“We made a defensive adjustment into the 2-3 zone,” Wolves coach Linsay Rapelje said. “And our defense always inspires our offense, so when we started to get stops we started scoring on offense and started realizing, ‘Hey, this is do-able’.”

It will be the program’s first state tournament trip since the 2006-2007 season.

“Oh, my gosh, it’s unreal. I’m shaking right now,” Wolves junior forward Hope Glasser said.

The switch to the 2-3 zone after halftime turned momentum, which was completely in Foster’s favor heading into and out of the break during an 18-2 Bulldogs’ run, in Sequim’s direction.

“We were able to focus on what we needed to get done each time down the court [defensively],” Glasser said. “No 3s, no easy buckets and get as many stops as we could.”

Suddenly all the same style of shots that had previously fallen for Foster, 3-pointers by Precious Serafica and Kaimyla Nolen, dribble drive layups from ridiculous angles by Makana Montoya and Meera Santos and tough play inside by Diyahni Frazier, were short, or long or blocked — Sequim’s Kalli Wiker swatting away a Serafica 3-point shot in the fourth quarter being a particularly memorable and important play.

The Wolves got all the stops — holding a feisty Foster to 0 of 11 shooting in the fourth quarter and 0 for 2 from the free-throw line while turning the Bulldogs over five times.

And Sequim could hardly miss itself during its late charge.

It started in the third period when Glasser, stymied and seated on the bench for a good chunk of the first half due to foul trouble, closed out the third quarter on a quest, getting to the rim or getting fouled along the way to score seven straight and putting Sequim within striking distance, down 44-33.

“When Hope settles down and plays her game she is fierce,” Rapelje said. “Foster was extremely scrappy, to the point of maybe fouling [most trips down the court]. “I think that made Hope mad. Her fire was burning and she just started driving to the hole which is one of her big strengths. She started scoring, had key rebounds.”

Glasser scored 11 of her team-high 16 points in the third.

“It was hard [to sit and watch in the first half] because I always try to get no fouls in the first quarter and play hard in the rest [of the game]. And I ended up getting two with like a minute left [in the first] because of some dumb choices,” Glasser said. “But I had to cheer on my team and watch them do what they could.”

Sequim slowed the progress of its comeback in the first minutes of the fourth quarter by turning the ball over offensively. Turnovers were an issue all night as Foster’s 2-1-2 halfcourt press was a problem for the Wolves, who gave the ball away 30 times.

But Sequim, which earned a compliment as a “pesky” team by a Kitsap Peninsula-based Olympic League rival, got a huge bucket from Jessica Dietzman and a corner 3 by Abby Schroeder that pulled Sequim within 44-38.

Wiker was fouled shooting a 3 and hit two freebies before Dietzman again attacked the rim for a layup. Glasser later rebounded a missed Sequim free throw to tie the game up at 44-all with 3:35 remaining.

Senior Bobbi Sparks extended her high school basketball career by scoring down low with 2:40 to go and a 3-pointer by Wiker gave the Wolves a 49-44 lead with 2:18 left.

“She does [spark us],” Rapelje said of Sparks. “She is my gritty, defensive player and she always gets the job done.”

Sequim continued to get stops as the Bulldogs became more and more desperate to score. A bucket by Jayla Julmist and free throws by Melissa Porter and Glasser capped the big run.

The Wolves (17-7) will face No. 6 Port Angeles (20-4) in a loser-out game at state in the Yakima SunDome at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday. Sequim is 0-2 versus Port Angeles so far this year, though both games were within single digits.

Sequim 54, Foster 44

Sequim 11 7 15 21— 54

Foster 11 17 16 0— 44

Sequim (54) — Glasser 16, Julmist 9, Wiker 8, Sparks 6, Schroeder 5, Porter 4, Dietzman 4, Pyeatt 2, Raney,

Foster (44) — Serafica 15, Montoya 14, Nolen 7, Frazier 4, Santos 4.

Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group Sequim’s Bobbi Sparks shields the basketball from a Foster defender during the Wolves’ state-tournament appearance-clinching 54-44 win over the Bulldogs Friday at Auburn-Mountainview High School.