Late White Swan charge falls short, 35-32

By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

One would have done it.

One 3-pointer — from anyone, from anywhere beyond the arc — would have made White Swan’s game with defending Class 1A state champion Colfax a flat-footed, regulation tie.

White Swan's Andrea Blodgett (22) makes a shot over Colfax defender Lauren Mellor (30).   BRIAN FITZGERALD/Yakima Herald-Republic View all photos for this story.

And from there, who knows?

But coaches much older than Adam Strom have made mention of “a lid” being on the basket, as there seemed to be throughout the Cougars’ 35-32 loss in a first-round state tournament game Wednesday in the SunDome.

“The first half, I think, was a matter of jitters,” Strom said. “We missed even layups and free throws. The second half was much better from the standpoint of energy and effort, but ...”

But White Swan, while improving from a 3-for-23 first half to a 9-for-27 second, never did hit a three. Not one, in 15 attempts.

With 30 seconds to play, Shelbi Strom tried a trey from the right baseline that would have given the Cougars a 35-34 lead. It went in-and-out.

Then after Colfax’s Kylie Shaw made one of two free throws with 13 seconds left, Strom tried a buzzer-beater from the top of the key that also narrowly missed.

As a consequence, White Swan (19-5) will meet Warden (16-9) at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in a loser-out game. The Cougars have beaten Warden twice this season, 47-26 and, in district play, 48-32.

Colfax (16-9) will face Lake Roosevelt (18-6) at 5:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal.

From the start, this was a matchup of the Cougars’ quickness and aggression against the Bulldogs’ size and youthful athleticism. And for much of the way Colfax, with no seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and five freshmen, was getting the better of it.

Its 2-3 zone defense gave White Swan fits, holding the Cougars without a field goal from the 4:03 mark of the first quarter to the 6:06 point of the third.

Still, thanks to a variety of pressuring defenses, the Cougs were within 25-15 when Shelbi Strom’s basket ended the drought. And though Colfax would extend its lead to 30-19 late in the period, White Swan scrambled back behind 5-foot-4 junior left-hander Andrea Blodgett.

The reigning SCAC West MVP had no better success shooting than her teammates, hitting 2 of 11 attempts, but she battled among the taller Bulldogs for nine rebounds, had two assists and even blocked three shots to go with her team-high nine points.

“We knew about her,” Colfax coach Corey Baerlocher said, “and we kept saying, ‘Keep her going left, keep her going left.’ But she’s as good a ballhandling guard as we’ve played against.”

None of the Bulldogs scored in double figures, either, with the team shooting 28 percent (14 for 50).

But Shaw, a 5-8 sophomore, had nine points and Angie Dennison, a 5-9 junior, totaled seven points and 10 rebounds.

And Baerlocher was more than happy to have survived a serious scare.

“In the second half they came at us with more pressure, and you saw a little of our youth there,” he said. “People talk about us being the defending champions, but this is a new team. We’re not defending anything. We’re just here to play.”