Despite being near the bottom of the Northwest Conference standings, Sehome girls basketball pulled off a season sweep of rival Sehome with a 37-34 victory over the Storm Wednesday, Feb. 5 at Squalicum High.
“This team is so young and they did not let the moment or the pressure get the best of them,” Sehome coach Kim Stensgar said. “We knew it would be close and it was nice to handle that game and not let the wheels fall off.”
Sehome entered the third quarter with a 28-24 lead but it didn’t last long. Squalicum’s Tiana Thomspon made a free throw then assisted Kailana Perez’s game-tying 3-pointer from the corner to make it 28-28 with four minutes left in the third.
Gallery: Sehome girls fend off Squalicum
Squalicum took the lead on the following possession with a basket from Addison Kettman. Both teams traded the lead until the Mariners took a 34-32 lead with less than a minute left. Instead of Squalicum fouling, Perez forced a Sehome turnover.
But the Storm struggled to outlast the Mariners’ defense in the final minute as Sehome held on for the victory.
“We struggled to score a bit so we know we have to keep them under what they typically score,” Stensgar said. “We rotated and defended well.”
Sehome’s Kaitlyn Schroeder made three free throws to give the Mariners the 37-34 lead with less than a second left. Perez tried a full-court heave but fired it off the backboard.
Perez led the Storm with a team-high seven points along with five rebounds and two steals. Thompson followed with six points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Schroeder had a game-high 12 points for Sehome. to go with four steals, three rebounds and a block.
Sehome (8-11) finishes the regular season at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 against Burlington-Edison, while Squalicum (10-8) travels to Oak Harbor at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6.
“Since none of them have played in a postseason game, we have to have a lot of conversations we were not expecting to have,” Stensgar said.
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
