WIAA Class 3A girls Hardwood Classic 2022: Quarterfinal live updates, highlights, photos, top performers, stats leaders
Here's a breakdown of each of the 3A girls state quarterfinal games, statistical leaders, top performers, highlights and photos, which will update throughout Thursday's matchups.
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NO. 2 GARFIELD 67, NO. 9 LAKESIDE (SEATTLE) 50
One of the prominent reward for Garfield winning this game: it's guaranteed no more matchups against Lakeside.
In their fourth meeting this season, the Bulldogs won, again, improving to 19-0 behind a balanced attack led by two of the premier guards in the country, Malia Samuels and Katie Fiso.
Samuels, a junior, had 11 points with nine assists and six rebounds, Fiso added 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting, seven rebounds and four steals.
This came after Garfield's boys team lost its first game of the season in overtime against Auburn on the other court.
"We know for our school and community, we have to take it home now," Garfield senior Lucille Richardson said.
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE?
It was one of the two seniors on this young, dynamic Garfield roster, Richardson, who hit the daggers in the fourth quarter.
Lakeside standout post Claire O'Connor connected for a three-point play early in the fourth quarter to cut Garfield's lead to 53-47, just after O'Connor had bulled to the basket for a score.
But Richardson answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from the right corner, wide open against Lakeside's zone, and Rakiyah Jackson scored in transition to quickly put Garfield ahead 61-47 with five minutes to go. She finished with 13 points, including 3-for-4 from the 3-point line.
"I was just in the moment, the energy was good, our teammates were hyping everybody up, the bench was loud -- it was just the right time to go hit those and win it," Richardson said.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Malia Samuels, Garfield
The junior point guard, one of the top in the country for the 2023 class, smoothly ran Garfield's offense, finishing with 11 points, nine assists and six rebounds (the most single-game assists of any player in the tournament so far).
Katie Fiso added 12 points and seven rebounds with four steals, Lucille Richardson scored 13, Jayda Lewis had 11 and Rakiyah Jackson scored 10.
Claire O'Connor, Lakeside of Seattle
O'Connor continued to be a matchup nightmare with her ability to play from behind the 3-point line, or use her 6-foot-2 wingspan to attack the paint. She scored a game-high 22 points with 12 rebounds and three assists on 8-for-14 shooting.
UP NEXT
Garfield advances to the state semifinals to face Arlington in a rematch of the 2020 semifinals, when the Bulldogs won before beating Lake Washington in the championship.
QUOTABLE
"We know for our school and community we have to take it home now," said Garfield senior Lucille Richardson after the win following the Garfield boys team's first loss of the season earlier in the day.
NO. 3 ARLINGTON 50, NO. 5 SNOHOMISH 47
Jenna Villa and Emma Gallatin spent multiple days the previous week training with each other at Villa's house, perfecting their shots and preparing for the grueling weekend that awaited their teams at the Tacoma Dome.
Sure enough, it was Villa's Arlington Eagles against Gallatin's Snohomish Panthers for the right to advance to the 3A state semifinals.
And despite Gallatin's takeover late to rally the Panthers back and her game-high 17 points, it was Villa's big shots and Kiera Marsh's go-ahead free throws that sent Arlington to a repeat trip to the semifinals after getting there in 2020.
"We just needed to come together and focus on staying composed," said Villa, a 6-foot-2 junior who scored 14 points with eight rebounds and three 3-pointers. "I think we were getting a little frantic. We just had to keep together, calm ourselves and focus on going one play at a time."
Snohomish solved the Tacoma Dome shooting mystery, drilling 10 for the game, including eight in the second half.
The Panthers hit four in consecutive possessions, first with Gallatin, before Arlington honed in on her and it opened up looks for Addyson Gallatin, Jada Andresen and Cheyenne Rodgers to give Snohomish a 48-47 lead with 55 seconds remaining.
Arlington coach Joe Marsh's reaction: "Are you kidding me?"
"That's exactly what you're thinking," he said. "And Snohomish is a much-improved shooting team this year, so we knew they could hit them. But 10 is far too many, especially in the Dome. People talk about how nobody can shoot here."
But Snohomish missed the ones it needed most: one in the corner with 36.4 seconds left, then after Marsh hit a pair of free throws to put Arlington up 48-47, the Panthers had an errant pass go right to Arlington.
Hannah Rork, with ice in her veins, answered with two free throws of her own. So Gallatin dribbled the length of the floor and found a look on the left wing, but her potential game-tying shot landed short off the front rim.
"This was huge, especially for these young kids," Joe Marsh said. "Jenna and Kiera have a ton of experience, but for the rest of these young kids, knowing they can win on the big stage on the big court -- that's huge for us going into the semifinals."
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE
While Snohomish was locked in from the 3-point line, rallying from what was a 42-34 Arlington lead in the fourth quarter, it was the Eagles' collected free-throw shooting that sent them to the Final Four.
Kiera Marsh connected on what her father and coach said were the biggest free throws of her life to put Arlington up 48-47 with 34.6 seconds left. Then Hannah Rork hit two more to give the Eagles a three-point lead with 12 seconds to play.
"Staying calm is so not easy to do in this situation and this spot -- it's hard for kids and it's hard for me," Joe Marsh said. "Then Kiera steps up and hits the two biggest free throws of her life and Hannah with two huge free throws and that's what it takes to win here."
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Jenna Villa, Arlington
She's a dynamic scorer, with NBA range and a 6-foot-2 frame. The junior hit a few deep 3-pointers to keep Snohomish at bay and finished with a team-high 14 points with eight rebounds, though she was forced into six turnovers.
Kiera Marsh added the go-ahead free throws and some dynamic passes as the Eagles' steady point guard. She finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Ella Gallatin, Snohomish
The 5-foot-9 senior played with tremendous confidence, especially in the second half. Her playmaking and shot-making ability kept helped rally the Panthers back as she finished with a game-high 17 points on 7-for-20 shooting, with six rebounds and three assists.
UP NEXT
Arlington plays the winner of Garfield/Lakeside of Seattle at 9 p.m. Friday in the 3A state semifinals.
QUOTABLE
"Sometimes as a coach you just say, 'Hey, here we go. Let's buckle down and defend and see if we can do this,'" Arlington coach Joe Marsh said of staving off Snohomish's 10 3-pointers. "And you have to get buckets, too. That's the thing -- when you start panicking that's when you start getting in trouble."
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NO. 4 LAKE WASHINGTON 73, NO. 14 HERMISTON 40
Elise Hani does not mind at all being so overlooked.
The 6-foot-4 senior and the rest of the Lake Washington girls basketball team easily re-acclimated to the Tacoma Dome, where it reached the title game the last time it was here in 2020.
The Kangaroos opened Thursday's state quarterfinals with a convincing win over Hermiston of Oregon, racing to a 25-7 lead after the first quarter.
Hani returns, as does senior point guard Rosa Smith, but the rest of Lake Washington's squad is new to the Dome.
"It's a scary thing being in the Dome and we have a lot of girls who haven't been here before," Hani said. "They came out and were lights out. It was great to see all the girls who haven't been here yet really shoot so well today."
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE?
The difference? Maybe it was that Lake Washington, as the four seed, felt a little slighted.
"I feel like we're kind of coming in as a little bit of an underdog," said Hani, who scored 13 points with seven rebounds. "I think that's where we would like to sit, though. We don't mind if people don't see us coming."
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Rosa Smith, Lake Washington
She didn't dominate on the scoreboard, but she did in running this Kangs' offense. The standout senior had eight points with 11 rebounds and seven assists in the win.
And she got Lake Washington's newcomers involved, like junior guard Ava Uusitalo, who scored a game-high 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting with four rebounds.
Hani added 13 points and seven rebounds and Rae Butler Wu had 12 points.
Ellie Hedeman, Hermiston
Heideman led the Bulldogs with 12 points and three rebounds.
UP NEXT
Lake Washington advances to the 3A semifinals for the second time in as many trips to the Tacoma Dome and will face the winner of No. 1 Mead/No. 7 Stanwood at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
QUOTABLE
"Our goal has always been to win a state championship -- that was our goal two years ago and that goal never changed," Lake Washington's 6-foot-4 senior post Elise Hani said. "We're starting to hit the right marks at the right time and we're taking off. I'm really excited about what this team can do."
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NO. 1 MEAD 52, NO. 7 STANWOOD 33
Photo by Vince Miller
Mead had never even sniffed a loss this season entering the Tacoma Dome.
Its closest margin of victory before Thursday in its dominant run to the top seed in 3A: a 51-39 win over Lewis and Clark on Feb. 8.
So when it trailed 17-11 after the first quarter and clung to a 35-32 lead after three quarters, coach Quantae Anderson challenged them.
"I just told them we had been waiting for this all season," Anderson said. "We've been waiting for a fight. Not that we haven't had any, but not like that.
"We just talked about fighting, scratching, doing whatever we can to win this game."
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE?
So Mead put the clamps on Stanwood's offense.
The Panthers allowed just one point in the final quarter and ran away on a 17-1 run to flex its defensive muscle.
Sophomore guard Teryn Gardner said that was a product of all their in-season work in the weight room.
"We just knew that we would eventually come out and play our game," said Gardner, who was one of three Mead players with 10 points. "We knew we could play much better than we did in the first half, and in the second half we did that."
And Mead traded those not-falling jumpers for layups, forcing 23 Stanwood turnovers and neutralizing standout 6-foot-4 Stanwood post Vivienne Berrett by getting out in transition.
"That first quarter, I was a little nervous," Gardner said of when Mead trailed 17-11. "But in the fourth quarter we finally came out and played our game. That was good to see. We know we can be so much better."
No one for Stanwood scored in double figures, with Mead's aggressive full-court pressure forcing the Spartans to 12 of 36 shooting (33.3 percent).
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Olivia Moore, Mead
Moore's shot from the outside wasn't falling (0-for-5 from the 3-point line), but she found other ways to get involved, scoring 10 points with six rebounds and four assists. Teryn Gardner also added 10 points with four rebounds and Haley Burns scored 10.
UP NEXT
Mead (23-0) gets a date with No. 4 Lake Washington in the 3A semifinals at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
QUOTABLE
"There's two things that travel in basketball: defense and layins," Mead coach Quantae Anderson said. "No matter what you're doing, layins are the easiest shots you're going to take and your defense goes as far as your effort. We played good enough defense tonight and we got our layins."
