[ t o u r n e y t o w n . c o m -- 2005 Class 2A state tournament ]

Woodland -- As. Kofstad 1-2 0-0 2, McLendon 2-6 1-4 5, Peabody 0-3 9-10 9, Schang 2-13 0-0 5, Wilder 3-5 2-2 11, Al. Kofstad 2-3 1-2 6, Greenleaf 1-3 0-2 2, Trice 0-1 2-9 2. Totals 11-36 15-29 42.

East Valley (Yakima) -- Alexieff 2-4 2-4 8, Mohsenian 3-7 1-3 8, Lee 5-12 0-0 13, Price 1-4 0-0 2, Bigby 0-0 0-0 0, Jacobs 3-8 0-2 6, Valicoff 0-2 0-0 0, Huntington 2-6 0-1 4, Stickney 5-9 1-1 11, Reid 0-0 0-0 0, Dorsett 0-0 0-0 0, Komstadius 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 4-11 52.

Woodland

East Valley (Yakima)

3-point goals--W 5-12 (Wilder 3-4, Al. Kofstad 1-1, Schang 1-6, Peabody 0-1), EV 6-18 (Lee 3-7, Alexieff 2-3, Mohsenian 1-1, Jacobs 0-1, Huntington 0-3, Price 0-3). Rebounds--W 36 (McLendon 10), EV 33 (Mohsenian 7, Stickney 7). Assists--W 6 (Schang 4), EV 12 (Lee 5). Steals
--W 4 (McLendon 2), EV 11 (Huntington 3). Blocked shots--W 2, EV 3 (Huntington 2). Fouled out --None. Total fouls--W 17, EV 22. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--W 17, EV 7.

Usually a team doesn’t get outscored 13-2 in the fourth quarter and still walk away never challenged with a comfy 10-point win.

But after a huge first half, the East Valley girls basketball team didn’t need too much in the final quarter to close out a 52-42 win against the sixth-ranked Woodland Beavers (19-7) at the 2A state tournament Friday in the SunDome.

The No. 1-ranked Red Devils (24-2) took a 21-point lead going into the fourth and relaxed their way into Saturday’s matchup against Connell in the fifth/eighth-place game.

“We did a great job moving the ball and the whole team contributed,” said forward Tana Stickney, who scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds. “Everybody got time to play and gave their all.”

Strong team defense helped East Valley jump out to a 19-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Red Devils forced eight turnovers in the quarter, and guard Brittany Alexieff sandwiched guard Brittnee Lee’s 3-pointer with two of her own to give East Valley three straight treys to close out the first.

“(East Valley coach Robi Raab) said before today’s game that the people who shoot the (3-pointers) need to get free on the outside and step up,” said Alexieff, who finished with eight points and was 2 of 3 from beyond the arc, “because we have not been doing so well on those (earlier in the tourney).”

East Valley’s defense did not let up in the second quarter, forcing six more turnovers to give the Sentinels 14 at halftime -- nine coming on Red Devil steals. EV also kept Woodland’s usual offensive stars from doing anything, holding the Beavers’ starters to only five points in the first half.

Sophomore guard Chelsea Wilder came off the bench to keep Woodland somewhat in the game with 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range. Beaver guard Destiny Schang and forward Ali McLendon, who both averaged in double figures this year, didn’t score in the first half as East Valley built a 36-19 halftime lead.

“We had good solid defense and good team defense and we moved the ball really well on offense in the first half,” Raab said. “In the fourth quarter we spread the floor and used the shot clock and had some good looks. ... We just weren’t hitting them.”

East Valley stretched its lead to 20, 41-21, when Lee hit her third 3-pointer with 7:03 remaining in the third quarter. Lee ended up leading the Red Devils’ balanced scoring attack with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field, and she was 3 of 7 from 3-point range. Stickney was the only other player in double figures with 11, but Alexieff and forward Arianna Mohsenian both chipped in eight.

Wilder’s 11 points led Woodland and guard Megan Peabody chipped in nine. Schang and McLendon finished with five points each, and McLendon grabbed 10 rebounds.

East Valley relaxed in the fourth with a 21-point lead, and the Beavers responded with the first nine points of the quarter.

Mohsenian’s putback with 2:39 remaining gave the Red Devils their only two points in the fourth, but Woodland managed only four points in the final two minutes.

East Valley has been on cruise control since dropping its first game 36-30 to Riverside on Wednesday. The Red Devils won their next two games against Eatonville (53-22) and Woodland to extend their trophy streak at the state tournament to eight years.

Now East Valley will meet an old rival in third-ranked Connell, which defeated Steilacoom 56-40, at 9 a.m. Saturday in the fifth/eighth-place game. The Red Devils defeated the Eagles (21-6) twice this season by only an average score of 5.5 points.

“There is a lot of mutual respect there,” Raab said of this year’s Connell/East Valley rivalry. “They were pulling for us at districts and leaving us messages on our wipe boards. ... There is a lot of respect and they like playing hard against each other.”