When you come in as the second-place team out of your district, you’re not too tall and your first-round Class 1A state-tournament opponent can put three 6-footers on the court, you might expect some disappointment — but not this
kind:

“That was a great start for us. But we just missed the (tournament) record for biggest margin by one point ... and we missed the (record for) most points by three points.”

That was the assessment of Zillah senior Rondelle Guthrie after the Leopards’ 83-32 rout of Coupeville, in which they so dominated every aspect of the game that the possibility of tournament records became a postgame topic of
conversation.

“Everything we talked about before the game, things we wanted to do, was to the T,” said Zillah coach Mindi Winters, whose 17-8 team will face Lake Roosevelt (20-3) at 4 p.m. Thursday. “The one thing I was really pleased with was our
decision-making. With a team like this, that’s so quick, that’s always a constant concern — making the right decisions, knowing when to attack, when to pull back.”

On Wednesday, the Wolves rarely gave Zillah reason to pull back. The Leopards’ half-court traps gave Coupeville fits, forcing turnovers that led to 2-on-1 fast breaks the other way. Zillah players came up with 17 steals among the 26
turnovers they forced, and the Leopards also dominated in an area that would seemingly make no sense: on the boards, where they had 52 rebounds to just 35 for the towering Wolves.

“We knew they had some height,” said senior guard Lacey Wentz, who scored five of her 11 points during a 33-3 first-half Zillah run. “But with our speed, we just knew we had to be aggressive on the boards, and that’s what we did.”

The difference came when the only Leopard taller than 5-foot-9 — 6-1 freshman Rosebud Guthrie, Rondelle’s younger sister — entered the contest with 5:20 remaining in the first quarter. At the moment, Zillah trailed 6-2 and had been
outrebounded 4-1. The Leopards took over from that moment on.

“Usually it just takes one person to do something that gets you going,” Rondelle Guthrie said. “My sister started rebounding and then everybody started rebounding. Kind of a trigger.”

The younger Guthrie would finish with a double-double, 10 rebounds and 10 points, while Tefani Uasike shot a sizzling 7-for-10 and scored a game-high 15 points. Rondelle Guthrie and Felicia Gonzales each finished with 10 points,
giving the Leopards five in double figures.

Hayley Ebersole led Coupeville with 10 points and four rebounds.

The Leopards had something else besides the victory to celebrate.

“Everybody scored. Isn’t that great?” Winters smiled.

“Yeah, now everybody has to worry about our depth,” retorted assistant coach Felix DeLeon. “Not only that, but we just picked up another five or six hours of preparation time.”

Such is the difference between playing a 9 a.m. consolation-bracket game or playing a quarterfinal at 4 — when you’re playing your best basketball of the season.

“That was one of our goals,” Rondelle Guthrie said. “To be at our peak this week.”

Mission accomplished.
 

Coupeville -- Myhr 1-1 0-0 2, Kay. Smith 0-1 0-2 0, Mouw 0-5 0-0 0, Rosenkrance 0-5 0-1 0, Ebersole 4-10 1-5 10, Kas. Smith 0-0 1-2 1, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, West 2-8 0-4 4, Kelley 0-0 0-0 0, Burgoyne 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey 2-4 2-5 6, Black 4-11 1-2 9. Totals 13-45 5-21 32.
Zillah -- Wentz 4-10 3-4 11, Marquis 2-2 0-1 4, Ziegler 2-5 0-1 4, Torrez 1-1 1-2 4, Affholter 3-7 1-4 8, Schilperoort 1-3 1-2 4, Ron. Guthrie 4-10 0-0 10, Uasike 7-10 1-1 15, Calhoun 1-4 0-0 2, Walker 0-0 1-2 1, Gonzales 4-5 1-2 10, Ros. Guthrie 3-11 4-5 10. Totals 32-68 13-24 83
Coupeville	12	5	5	10	--	32
Zillah	17	26	19	21	--	83
3-point goals--C 1-13 (Ebersole 1-2, Rosenkrance 0-1, Black 0-5, Mouw 0-5), Z 6-13 (Ron. Guthrie 2-4, Gonzales 1-1, Schilperoort 1-1, Torrez 1-1, Wentz 0-1, Affholter 1-4, Ziegler 0-1). Rebounds--C 35 (Black 7, West 6), Z 52 (Ros. Guthrie 10, Uasike 8). Assists--C 6 (Mouw 5), Z 14 (Gonzales 3). Steals--C 10 (Black 3), Z 17 (Ros. Guthrie 4). Blocked shots--C 1, Z 2. Fouled out--None. Total fouls--C 18, Z 18. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--C 26, Z 12.