Despite solid efforts and a nine-point early start, the Liberty Patriots held off a Mount Si girls basketball team hungry for a win last Thursday, Feb. 19.
The Lady Wildcats went to on take third place in league over Bellevue on Friday, Feb. 20.
The Valley team traveled to Bellevue Community College in search of a win against the Patriots, the only team in the league that Mount Si had not beaten this season. The ‘Cats rolled to a 9-0 first-quarter start, but a call by an official in the fourth quarter against the Wildcats helped the Patriots take control late and Liberty went on to a 52-46 win, knocking Mount Si into the third-place game against Bellevue.
The call in question occurred with 4:23 left in the fourth, during a Wildcat timeout. A referee called a technical foul against the Mount Si bench, specifically one of the team’s assistant coaches, for unknown reasons; it did not appear that any of the coaches did anything to warrant the official’s call.
The call set in motion six straight trips to the foul line for Liberty, all of which they hit. That took what had been a 39-35 Patriot lead and extended it to 45-35. Despite a late charge by Mount Si that included a couple of three-pointers from Caitie Richards, Liberty was able to hold on.
“We were playing our hardest. [Liberty is] a ally good team and I think our shots just weren’t falling today,” said sophomore Kassidy Maddux.
“I think we were really frustrated after that technical happened. We started fouling because we didn’t know what else to do,” she added.
“Hats off to Liberty,” coach Dirk Hansen said. “Liberty’s well coached; Liberty’s a good basketball team.”
Wildcat gameplay was strong, as Richards led the way with 16 points. The team was aided by great performances in the paint. Hailey Eddings had nine rebounds, McDonald added seven boards, and Larion pitched in six to help Mount Si grab 39 as a team.
Mount Si played in the third-place game Friday, Feb. 20, against Bellevue and got a great effort from post Traci Nelson, who helped beat the Wolverines and grab the third spot to the SeaKing district tournament.
Nelson scored 13 as the Wildcats won 64-52, their eighth win in nine games. Caitie Richards was just one point off a double-double. The Humboldt State-bound senior added nine points and 11 assists to aid Mount Si’s cause, which was helped by a solid offensive effort; the team shot 58 percent from the floor.
The Wildcats built an 18-9 lead after one period and maintained their hold the rest of the way. Aubrey Larion, Jordyn Wilson and Sarah McDonald all had eight points each, and Larion added six rebounds.
Just for the chance to play at BCC, Mount Si needed a balanced attack to win a loser-out game at home against Sammamish last Tuesday, Feb. 17. Richards’ 18 points helped the Wildcats made quick work of the Totems, 78-18. Everyone in uniform scored points, and all except Richards added at least one rebound apiece to help the efforts. Larion pitched in 10 points and seven rebounds, while Karly Thompson added six assists.
“With a game like this, you’re just looking to keep the ship steered in the right direction, and we did that tonight,” Hansen said.
The rout allowed everyone to play, including postseason additions Rachel Finnegan and Haley Chase, both from the JV squad.
“I just wanted to work really hard and this was a good game to get the feel for things and get in the varsity mode,” Chase said.
“It gave me a chance to go over plays that I didn’t know that well and be able to run it against the defense,” Finnegan said.
Chase feels varsity is different than what she saw on JV this year.
“The ball moves around a lot faster and [there’s] more transition and definitely more scoring opportunities,” Chase said.
