E-W Girls Battle Kentwood Today After Ousting Defending 4A Champs

MILL CREEK — The Edmonds-Woodway girls basketball simply will not quit.

The Warriors won their fifth consecutive game on Friday at Jackson High School, defeating defending 4A state champion Auburn-Riverside 52-34.

E-W will faceKentwood (19-7) today with a scheduled tip time of 1 p.m. at Jackson High School.

On Friday, E-W (23-4) overcame a slow start to the game offensively and took control with a 12-4 run to close the third quarter, ending with a 37-26 lead the Ravens (21-5) would be unable to cut into.

That outburst was keyed by some timely shooting from the Warriors, who managed only 23.8 percent from the floor in the first half, including zero of six from three-point range.

Senior point guard Madeline Kasper hit from well beyond the arc with three minutes remaining to push the E-W lead to 28-22 and begin the run.

But the Ravens would receive consecutive buckets inside from Kendall Foster and Kathleen Cooper to pull back within two with a minute left in the period before three consecutive long-range jumpers gave the Warriors complete control.

First  it was senior Angela Woods, who put in her only field goal of the night with 50 seconds remaining in the third to extend the Warriors' lead to five.

Then it was with fifteen seconds remaining and, finally, it was Kasper again, this time hitting from the right wing as the buzzer sounded. That shot helped E-W close the period with nine straight points and deliver the knockout blow to the Ravens.

"I think it really got us going," said Woods of the nine consecutive points to end the quarter.

As the Warriors began to find their stroke from outside, the Ravens continued to struggle from three, going only 1-6 in the second half and 3-14 for the game.

Cooper, a senior who is committed to Boston College, was held in check by an aggressive and active zone defense from E-W throughout, finishing with 12 points on 6-13 shooting.

"She got twelve points and she had to earn every one of them," said E-W Coach Duane Hodges. "We never really got in foul trouble guarding her, which was great."

Cooper added eight rebounds, but the Ravens as a team were dominated on the glass by E-W, which finished the game with a 44-25 rebounding advantage. Brooklyn Hinkens scored seven points on two of 16 from the floor for Auburn-Riverside. Jalea Crump added five more for the Ravens in the loss.

Asked about the enigmatic state of his own team's offensive output, a 13-point half followed by a 39-point half, Hodges had a candid response.

"I just quit trying to over-coach offensively at halftime," he said.

Sydney Donaldson kept her team in the game early eight of the 15 E-W points in the first half. The senior post finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, both game-highs. Ashley Albertson had 11 points for the Warriors, while Madeline Kasper and Woods each added eight.

Both Hodges and Woods recognized that the game ended up hinging far more on effort than on strategy.

"About 98 percent effort," Hodges said with a laugh.

Woods also spoke about the satisfaction of finally getting past the Ravens, who defeated E-W in the first round of last season's state tournament, and also earlier this season in an overtime game during a Nike-sponsored tournament held in Oregon.

"It feels really good because when we set our goals at the beginning of the year, we knew this team stood between us and those goals."

The next goal for the Warriors is to escape from the regional round and make the trip back to Tacoma for the quarterfinals.