Friday's Girls Basketball: Rochester Repels Late Beaver Run

ROCHESTER — The Scatter Creek Showdown Round Two was tied only twice on Friday night. The first time was before the first shot of the night broke the cylinder and the second tie came with under three minutes remaining when Kaylee Schow drained a three pointer from the right of center to cap a Beavers comeback from a deficit that had reached as many as 12 points early in the fourth quarter.

Schow pumped her first as the shot rattled through the rim. The Beavers bench went wild and the fans came out of their seats for the first time since intermission.

The Warriors just went back to work and within a matter of seconds Lexi Jones-Sederberg was pulling up from beyond the arc to drill a long-ball of her own. That cold-blooded shot gave Rochester a 39-36 lead that they were wise enough not to give away again as they held on for a 44-40 victory in non-league girls basketball action.

Jones-Sederberg was hot right from the start against Tenino scoring the Warriors’ first eight points of the night as they staked out a 8-0 lead over the first five minutes of the game. She finished with a double-double on a game-high 22 points and 15 rebounds, including six 3-pointers.

At the end of that quarter Rochester held a 14-4 lead but the Beavers found their bearings from that point forward, battling to an 11-11 tie in the second quarter and a 8-7 edge in the third quarter.

On a night where Tenino struggled to get their shots to fall it was the cleanup work of Rhian Mathis and Alivia Hunter that kept the Beavers within chomping range. Mathis scored 11 points, mostly on putbacks, and Hunter gathered eight rebounds.

A few minutes into the fourth quarter, though, Rochester appeared to be running away with the game again with a lead that had stretched out to a dozen points. That’s when the Beavers started to get hot thanks to a switch from a half-court press to the full-court variety.

A steal from Ashley Show le to a breakaway basket by Mathis. Then Charlie Letts drilled a three point shot before Kaylee Schow sank a pair free throws. After another free throw by Kaylee Schow her sister Ashley Schow rebounded a missed freebie and capped it with putback to cut their deficit to three points.

The next time down the court Kaylee Schow hit her clutch three pointer to tie the game at 36-36 with 2:20 remaining in the contest and the Beavers faithful went berserk.

Several second later, Jones-Sederberg was watching the net rip on her own big time shot from way downtown as the hometown fans went wild.

Rochester coach Davina Serdahl said she was confident the ball was going in as soon as she saw Jones-Sederberg lift up.

“I know it’s going in. I have complete confidence in her as do her teammates. And somebody the last time out said, ‘Lex, it’s your turn. Go take over. Take control of your team.’ And she did,” said Serdahl. “I mean, the kid averages a double-double. She’s our leading rebounder just because she has a knack for the ball. She’s all grit.”

Serdahl noted that Jones-Sederberg had to pull even more of the weight for the Warriors down the stretch after Paige Winter fouled out. Winter finished the game with five points and seven rebounds.

With one of their leaders on the bench for good and Tenino getting hot Jones-Sederberg admitted there was some trepidation in the Warriors huddle.

“We definitely got very nervous that they were coming back. We kind of got scared and turned the ball over a lot and our defense wasn’t really there but we picked it up at the end and said this is our game. We wanted it,” noted Joens-Sederberg.

She added that she had no hesitation to look for her shot after the Beavers knotted the game up late.

“I was just thinking that I need to get a shot up. It was tough because Paige fouled out but we had three minutes left so I just thought that I needed to step up as a leader,” Jones-Sederberg said. “I think it was partly that my shot was falling tonight and also I really wanted to beat Tenino two times in a row. Especially at home.”

Tenino coach Brandi Thomas was pleased with the way her team battled back to make a game of it late.

“The first time that we played them at our place we played a great three quarters. So that was kind of our motivation tonight was to come out and play a complete four quarters,” said Thomas.

She added that the inspired play of Jones-Sederberg was just too much to overcome.

“That last three, that was a dagger. That one hurt and I think it caught our girls off guard because they were pumped about our three and then they came down pretty quick and hit one right back in our face,” Thomas said. “She was on tonight, Sederberg, and she wasn’t as much when we played them the first time so she was a new threat for us to deal with. She did a great job stepping up.”

Kaylee Schow scored a team-high 15 points for Tenino. Ashley Schow grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Charlie Letts added seven points for the Beavers.

Serdahl was happy to hang on for the rivalry game win on the Warriors home court but said that there are plenty of lessons for her team to take away as they get ready for 2A Evergreen Conference games to begin.

“I told them a 10-point lead at halftime is never enough. You know, they’re a good team and we need to take care of the basketball and sometimes we didn’t. Our shots were there. I mean, we had 61 shots. Sometimes I think maybe we were too open and sometimes we just launched it,” explained Serdahl. “We’ve definitely got things to work on and they know that. Being in one of the toughest leagues in the state you’ve got to be ready night in and night out.”

Rochester (6-3) will play at Tumwater on Jan. 4, while Tenino (7-3) will play in the Charles Wright Holiday Tournament beginning Dec. 28.

Toledo Hands Ilwaco First Loss

ILWACO — Kal Schaplow scored 22 points and Toledo slowed down Ilwaco in the second quarter to pick up a 52-41 win here Friday in non-league 2B girls basketball action.

Toledo outscored the previously-undefeated Fishermen (9-1) 16-6 in the second quarter to take a 31-17 lead into halftime.

“We played hard, and started off really well,” Toledo coach Brian Layton said. “And then we were able to close it out. It was a big win for us. They’re a really good team.”

Haleigh Holmes added 15 points and six rebounds for the Indians, with Stacie Spahr adding nine points and 11 boards.

“I thought Haleigh Holmes really stepped up tonight,” Layton added. “We’re starting to get more girls scoring, which is making us a real balanced team. … I’m proud of the effort.”

Erika Glenn led Ilwaco with 14 points.

Toledo (6-3) plays Kittitas on Dec. 28 at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.

Capital Overpowers Centralia

OLYMPIA — The Cougars pulled ahead early and never quite let the Tigers catch up, winning a non-league girls hoops game 56-34 here Friday night.

Hannah Porter led Centralia with 11 points, while Danika Jensen added four points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Still, said Tiger coach Doug Ashmore, the loss to the 3A Cougars was an improvement over the team’s loss to Hoquiam on Wednesday night.

Centralia cut Capital’s 31-13 halftime lead to 10 points in the third quarter, only to see a few missed layups give the Cougars the opportunity to keep their lead intact.

“I was really just happy with our overall team effort tonight,” Ashmore said. “It was much better than Wednesday night, just team-wise. Every girl that came in played hard, so I was really happy with that output.”

Jensen and Porter both played well, Ashmore added, and Stephanie Strophy scored eight points and played well defensively.

Reagen Henry led Capital with 16 points. Kyra Ashton added 14.

Centralia (1-6) plays in the Lakewood High School’s Cougar Holiday Tournament next Thursday against 3A Nathan Hale.

Castle Rock Pulls Away Late to Beat Winlock

CASTLE ROCK — Addison Hall posted a double-double, but it wasn’t enough for Winlock here Friday night in a 41-25 loss to Castle Rock in non-league girls basketball action.

Hall scored 11 points with 11 rebounds, but the Rocket won the fourth quarter 18-7 to pull away and pick up the win.

Karlie Jones added seven points for Winlock, while Rachel Anderson led Castle Rock (4-4) with 12 points.

The Cardinals went 9 of 47 from the field (19 percent) and turned the ball over 27 times.

“We can’t continue to score single digits every quarter and expect to win basketball games,” Winlock coach Tori Nelson said. “Our defense, we have really beautiful moments — we blocked out well tonight — but offensively we are very inexperienced.”

Winlock (2-8) plays at Wahkiakum on Friday, Jan. 4.