T-Birds Drop Low-Scoring Quarterfinal to Tigers

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YAKIMA — Defense could only get the Tumwater girls basketball team so far Thursday, and the Thunderbirds fell out of the championship bracket at the 2A girls basketball state tournament with a 39-30 loss to No. 3 Burlington-Edison.

The T-Birds – operating without starting point guard Regan Brewer again – knew that if they wanted to spring the upset, they’d have to turn things into a slog, like they did in their 36-29 win over Enumclaw. And while the Tigers threatened to break things open at a couple points, Tumwater did just that.

“All season, our identity has been on the defensive end,” Tumwater coach Nathan Buchheit said. “We’re going to make it tough on that end and give ourselves a chance, because offense isn’t always going to be there for us.”

Tumwater held Burlington-Edison to 32% shooting from the floor, at 15 for 46, and turned the Tigers over 17 times. More on the lucky side of things, B-E went 4 for 18 from the free-throw line, leaving a whole lot of points at the stripe.

Burlington-Edison scored the first 10 points of the game, before Cierra Larson hit a jumper over five minutes in. That was all the offense Tumwater would manage until the final minute of the first quarter, before a 7-0 run – capped by a Kylie Waltermeyer buzzerbeater from the midcourt logo – cut the deficit to four points at 13-9.

There would be no such run in the second quarter, and B-E extended its lead to 14 points at the break, and 16 a possession into the third. But Tumwater chipped its way back into things, slowly getting the deficit back into single digits with a shutdown defensive effort and points in dribs and drabs.

“I’m proud of the way we played the second half,” Buchheit said. “We played very well and gave ourselves an opportunity.”

A lot of the offense came at the line; after going 1 for 4 from the stripe in the first half, the T-Birds went 7 for 11 in the second. 

“That was just how it played out,” Buchheit said. “We’ve been talking about pump-fakes and whatnot, but they’re a physical team, more handsy, so they were calling more fouls on them and we were able to get to the line… We get a couple more of those, a couple more other baskets, and the game’s a little different in our eyes.”

The T-Birds closed the gap to as few as six points with 1:25 to go, but couldn’t get anything more to fall. Tumwater finished shooting 20% from the field.

Waltermeyer led the way with a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double, and Larson stepped up for 11 points and eight boards; both also added three steals to their respective lines.

Tumwater will drop to the consolation portion of the bracket, and face its second loser-out matchup of the week Friday. The T-Birds will take on the loser of the quarterfinal between White River and Sequim.