TACOMA — Port Angeles couldn’t get a last look at a potential game-winning shot and fell 58-57 to No. 3 Tumwater in a thrilling Class 2A Girls Basketball State Regional round seeding game Saturday.
Entering the contest the No. 6 Roughriders (19-5) were assured of their third straight state tournament trip, but Port Angeles will now face a loser-out contest against No. 11 Clarkston (19-6) at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Yakima SunDome.
“A pretty gritty effort, Tumwater just shot so well early and we really didn’t play badly at all,” coach Michael Poindexter said. “We stayed tough and showed a lot of resilience when they would go on short runs.
“[Assistant coach] Daniel Horton said in the locker room that they’ll look back on this years from now and realize what a hard-fought game this was. It was a pretty commendable effort. We thought it would be a little like playing ourselves and so did Tumwater’s coach [Robin Johnson].”
After corralling a missed 1-and-1 free throw opportunity by Tumwater late in Saturday’s game at Mount Tahoma High School, the Riders were able to advance up the full court with 4.5 seconds left. But Jaida Woods’ pass to Mikkiah Brady was intercepted by Tumwater’s Aubrey Amendala and the final buzzer sounded.
Port Angeles had a number of chances to take the lead after tying up the contest twice in the final moments.
The first came when a Millie Long layup tied the game at 50-all with around three minutes to play and another after Mikkiah Brady drained a right-side 3-pointer to pull the teams even at 54-54 with 2 minutes remaining.
Bailee Larson had a good look from long range with 35 seconds that rattled in and out and Long missed the second free throw after sinking the front end of a 1-and-1 with 22.3 seconds.
Tumwater gave Port Angeles some extra life by missing two runout layups after breaking the Riders’ back-court trap on consecutive possessions and missing 1-and-1 chances at the line.
“They were tired, we were tired, it was like a 15-round welterweight championship fight,” Poindexter said of the end of the game.
Long was spectacular for Port Angeles, tying for top scoring honors with 27 points with an equally strong Natalie Sumrok of Tumwater.
“They couldn’t stop Millie and we couldn’t stop Natalie,” Poindexter said.
“They struggled with [Millie] all game. She exerted a lot of energy. We tried to get her to do a little less and get her feet under her shots inside and slow the finish a bit and it really paid off for her. And defensively, she had a great game.
Long also was strong on her dribble drives to the rim and found Eve Burke for assists on many of Burke’s 16 points.
Port Angeles started strong, up 18-13 after one quarter, but the pace turned in Tumwater’s favor in the second quarter as Sumrok got going and Aubrey Amandala and Olivia Bailon hit from long range to give the Thunderbirds a 35-31 halftime lead.
The second half was mostly played at Port Angeles’ tempo but the shots just wouldn’t fall in the final seconds.
Sumrok was the leader on offense, but Tumwater also found shooters like Olivia Bailon who had 14 points and Amendala who scored nine, all on 3s.
“We haven’t faced a high-post presence like Sumrok,” Poindexter said. “She can drive, hit the 3, the 17-footer. She’s tough. But we didn’t get out on their other shooters in the first half and they hurt us in man [defense] late in the second quarter.
“And they hurt us on the boards. They are a really physical team for their size, but they were very physical.”
Now Port Angeles will have to bounce back and stave off elimination with a contest againt the No. 11 Bantams in an early morning matchup Wednesday.
“Clarkston is an excellent team,” Poindexter said. “They are ranked 11th but they are in a tough league with East Valley Spokane and West Valley Spokane and they have to play those teams three times a year. I think they are underrated at No. 11 and have one of the best junior guards in the sate in Ashlynn Wallace.
“I think we will be ready physically, but now the question becomes if we can bounce back emotionally. I think we’ll be ready.”
No. 3 Tumwater 58, No. 6 Port Angeles 57
Port Angeles 18 13 12 12— 57
Tumwater 13 22 11 12— 58
Port Angeles (57) — Long 27 , Burke 16, Wood 7, Brady 4, Walker 2, Gedelman, Stensgard, Brown, Brenkman.
Tumwater (58) — Amendala 9, Sumrok 27, McCauley 5, Bailon 14, Kaufman 3.
No. 4 Neah Bay 52, No. 5 Mount Vernon Chr. 45
TACOMA — The Red Devils earned their third and most important win of the season over the Hurricanes in Saturday’s Class 1B girls basketball state regional, but it wasn’t easy.
A week after blistering Mount Vernon Christian 73-31 in the Tri-District Championship and two months removed from a 15-point regular-season win over the ‘Canes, Neah Bay struggled down the stretch, scoring just five points in the fourth quarter.
Mount Vernon Christian never got closer than the final margin of seven points in the final frame but the Red Devils didn’t make it easy on themselves with multiple turnovers, missed shots and fouls that sent the Hurricanes to the free throw line.
Neah Bay lucked out a little bit as Mount Vernon Christian missed 8 of 16 free throw shots on the game.
Two scoring runs led to the Red Devils gaining the upper hand.
Laila Greene capped a 14-0 run from the final possession of the first quarter through 4:42 of the second with a 3-pointer to put Neah Bay up 32-17.
The Red Devils led 34-24 at halftime.
Neah Bay pushed the margin back up to nearly 20 points in the third quarter before Mount Vernon Christian’s comeback attempt.
Laila Greene led Neah Bay with 21 points.
Josie Droog had 25 points for the Hurricanes.
Neah Bay (18-5) will open the Class 1B State Tournament Thursday at 3:45 p.m. at Spokane Arena against a to-be-determined opponent.
No. 4 Neah Bay 52, No. 5 Mount Vernon Chr. 45
Mount Ver. Chr. 17 7 9 12— 45
Neah Bay 20 14 13 5— 52
Mount Vernon Christian (45) — J. Droog 25, Faber 3, Russell 4, wood 4, E. Droog 9.
Neah Bay (52) — L. Greene 21, A. Greene 6, Aguirre 4, R. Moss 5, Gagnon 6, Ray 4, Ry. Moss 6.
No. 9 Clallam Bay 57, No. 16 Riverside Christian 51
TACOMA — No. 9 Clallam Bay won a back-and-forth loser-out Class 1B State Regional round contest 57-51 against the No. 16 Riverside Christian Crusaders on Friday at Mount Tahoma High School.
The Bruins advanced out of the state regional round for the first time since 2017 and qualified for the 13th state tournament appearance in school history.
Clallam Bay (17-6) will face No. 8 Wellpinit (16-7) Wednesday at 9 p.m. at the Class 1B Girls Basketball State Tournament at Spokane Arena.
The Bruins trailed 22-21 at halftime and 30-27 at one point in the third quarter before going on a 13-5 run keyed by eighth-grader Amber Swan.
Swan drilled a 3-point basket from the left wing to put the Bruins up seven points with 6:35 to play and followed up with a floater for a 43-34 lead with 6:08 left.
Swan finished with 15 points to lead the Bruins. Older sister Paitence Swan added 11 points.
“The Swans played tough as always, Clallam Bay coach Mike Maines said. “Paitence finished with 11 and Amber, who you would never know she was an eighth-grader, was big down the stretch.”
Riverside Christian crept back into the contest but the Bruins had answers.
Amber Swan knocked down the front-and-back ends of a 1-and-1 at the free-throw line with 2:20 to go for a 48-44 lead and Jada Clemmons knocked down a long 2-point jumper after some zippy ball movement for a 50-46 advantage with 1:25 to play.
Clallam Bay held the Crusaders at bay the rest of the way to punch its state tournament ticket.
Point guard Cedar Johnson added 14 points for the Bruins.
“Cedar controlled the ball most of the night, finished with 14 points and played tough defense all night,” Maines said.
Maines also pointed out the play of Vanessa Jimmicum and Rainee Signor.
“Rainee Signor rebounded well and played tough defense,” Maines said. “And Vanessa Jimmicum has played great minutes off the bench in the last few games, scoring [points] and playing fantastic defense.”
No. 9 Clallam Bay 57, No. 16 Riverside Christian 51
Riverside Chr. 11 11 8 21— 51
Clallam Bay 10 11 13 23— 57
Riverside Christian (51) — Olivia Hall 22, C. Swanson 9, Yallup 10, A. Hall 7, G. Swanson 2, Field 1.
Clallam Bay (57) — A. Swan 15, Johnson 14, P. Swan 11, Clemmons 9, Jimmicum 6.
________
Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
