MONTESANO — Winlock outscored Montesano 21-8 in the fourth quarter to top the host Bulldogs 58-49 in a crucial matchup between the teams vying for a chance at the fourth seed from the SWW 1A League Evergreen Conference.
The pieces finally fell into place for Cardinal coach Scott Ashmore. And at an ideal time, too.
“I’ve been talking about getting a good fourth quarter for a while, and we finally put one together,” he said. “Julie (Jacobo) took over in the fourth. They couldn’t stop her she was getting to the basket.”
Jacobo scored a game-high 16 points, and teammate Courtney Suter scored 11 and had nine rebounds for the Cardinals, who would have had to play a grudge match for the fourth seed in the District IV 2A Girls Basketball Tournament had they lost, according to Ashmore.
“The girls knew what was on the line tonight,” he said. “If we lose, we play Monte again tomorrow night.”
The Cardinals were down 4 points after three quarters of play, before their big fourth quarter run. “They understood at halftime the challenge to play better basketball,” Ashmore said. “It was the best second half we’ve played all year.”
Winlock shot 26 of 34 from the free throw line, which also pleased their coach.
“Our free throw shooting was key in the fourth,” Ashmore said. “We shot the lights out at the free throw line.
“When you go down there, you’re usually not going to come out of the positive end of a free throw contest.”
The Cardinals (17-6, 8-6 league) did, however, as Montesano (7-13, 6-8 league) shot 7 of 15. They now play La Center Thursday night at 8 p.m. in Kelso, as the Evergreen’s No. 4 seed.
