Edmonds-Woodway Play Lewis and Clark Today

Who: vs. Lewis and Clark

What: WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires 4A girls basketball quarterfinals

When: 9 tonight

Where: Tacoma Dome

Road to the Dome

After finishing last year with a fifth place-finish, Edmonds-Woodway  set its sights even higher this season.

'We want to play all four days at state," Coach Duane Hodges told Edmonds Patch earlier in the season. "We want to play all four days at state." As the quarterfinals open tommorow, that goal is suddenly directly in front of his Warriors.

For Lewis and Clark, the path to the quarterfinals began with a second-place finish in the Greater Spokane League, which also includes state qualifier Gonzaga Prep.

In the Greater Spokane League district tournament, the Tigers earned their way into the title game by defeating Mead 82-53 and Gonzaga Prep 56-51.

In the opening round of the state tournament, Lewis and Clark beat Chiawana 55-53 in a winner-to-state game to set their match-up with the Warriors.

Meet the Tigers

Lewis and Clark is one of the biggest teams the Warriors will have faced this season and will challenge Edmonds-Woodway with a trio of six-footers.

The tallest of the Tigers' trees is junior Abang Taka, who stands at 6'3. Aiding Taka will be Hayley Hendricksen, a 6-foot junior.

Junior Nakia Arquette is listed as a guard even at 6'1, and will likely attempt to use her size to keep pressure on E-W ball-handlers Madeline Kasper and Amia Nash, who are both listed by E-W at 5'5.

Another place that size could come into play is perimeter defense.

Hodes said that his team took advantage of its ability to connect from outside, with a number of players presenting problems for Lewis and Clark during last year's fifth place game at the state tournament, a 56-53 E-W win.

The Edmonds-Woodway coach added: "He [Lewis and Clark coach Jim Redmon] is always well -prepared defensively."

From the sideline

The chief concern for Hodges heading into tonight's game against the Tigers is cleaning up the glass.

The E-W coach knows that with their low-post trio Lewis and Clark will have an opportunity to receive all the offense they need from put-backs and easy hoops underneath unless Donaldson and Albertson can keep them out of the paint and off the offensive boards.

"Offensive rebounding is the big concern I have," said Hodges.

For his own team, Hodges said his group is confident in their abilities after fighting off elimination for six consecutive games.

"They're pretty confident knowing it was not an average feat to win six loser-out games in a row."

Hodges also spoke about his team's ability to erase a deficit both over the long haul (an 11-point hole against Eastlake in the third quarter) and in a compressed space (five points in 30 seconds to get to overtime against Kentwood).

One final run

With the pressure of missing out on their final opportunity at state finally removed, look for the five E-W seniors (Donaldson, Woods, Albertson, Kenney and Nash) to return to the free-flowing, effortless form they displayed throughout the regular season.

As their time together comes to its apex, Hodges spoke admiringly of his seniors and his team as a whole.

"I'm really thrilled to be a part of their basketball career," the coach said. "I'd love to win a state championship with these girls. They are very deserving."

What's up next

The winner of tonight's game will move into the semifinals, where it will face the winner of a quarterfinal game between Woodinville and Bellarmine Prep. That game will take place at the Tacoma Dome on Friday with a scheduled tip time of 9 p.m.

The losing team will move into the lower-bracket, where it will still have an opportunity to place as high as fourth.

That feat will require two consecutive wins, the first of which must come against the loser of the Woodinville/Bellarmine Prep game. That game will also take place at the Tacoma Dome on Friday, with a scheduled tip time of 2 p.m.