Still smarting from their Class 1A state quarterfinal loss the previous
evening, White Swan’s girls stumbled out of the gate offensively in
their loser-out contest with Toledo on Friday afternoon.
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White Swan's Andrea Blodgett
drives
to the basket against Toledo's Kelsey
Stone in the second quarter..
GORDON
KING/Yakima Herald-Republic
View all photos for this story.
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Fortunately, this Cougar team’s strength is not at that end of the
floor.
That’s reserved for its tenacious, trapping defense and on that front,
everything was A-OK on Friday.
White Swan forced 30 Toledo turnovers, 16 in the second half, and then
regained its offensive footing enough after halftime to break from a tie
and ring up a 51-44 victory that will assure the Cougars a trophy for
the second straight season.
“We’ve worked all year to make sure we played on Saturday. We wanted a
trophy,” said guard Andrea Blodgett, who had 10 points and three of
White Swan’s 13 steals.
“It’s a huge weight off our shoulders to know we’re going home with a
trophy,” Cougar coach Joe Blodgett said. “Win or lose today, it was not
going to detract from our season. But for my team, I know they wanted to
trophy.”
And they will, with White Swan (25-1) playing Freeman (21-4) at 1:30
p.m. Saturday for fourth and seventh place. The Cougars finished fifth
last season.
White Swan got into Saturday’s placing round behind another stellar
effort from a defense that caused havoc all over the court.
“We’ve struggled (with pressure) all year,” Toledo coach Mandi Olson
said. “We’re used to playing against pressure. We know how to execute
against it but then we get out here (on the floor) and kind of panic.
“They (White Swan) are very athletic and quick. They had quickness that
we don’t have.”
That was evident in the final stats as White Swan scored 24 points off
those 30 Toledo turnovers. The Indians, meanwhile, could only force
seven Cougar turnovers (three in the game’s final minute with the
outcome decided) and scored just three points off those.
“That’s just the heart of this team,” Joe Blodgett said. “They know
defense and take pride in their defense.”
“We had tired legs (from Thursday) so we had to pick it up on the
defensive end. We know how to stay aggressive,” Andrea Blodgett said.
With the defense keeping Toledo from breaking away, White Swan finally
righted itself on offense in the second half by being more aggressive
against the Indians’ 2-3 zone.
With Shelbi Strom and Alexandria Allen finding seams in the defense,
they were able to penetrate for either short jumpers or to hit a cutting
teammate with a pass for a layup. Allen scored half of her game-high 14
points after halftime, with Strom adding six of her 11, and Danielle
Blodgett scoring all eight of her points after halftime.
“They found a way to hit the right spots in the zone,” Olson said.
“All five starters are excellent ball-handlers,” Joe Blodgett said.
“They know how to get into the lane and the others all know to get to a
spot for a pass.”
That effort allowed White Swan to shoot 14 of 33 in the second half
after an 8-for-40 first-half effort that led to a 20-20 tie.
White Swan opened the second half with a 7-0 run and its defense held
Toledo scoreless for the first 2 1/2 minutes.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Rachel Johnson pulled Toledo within 33-30
late in the period, but the Cougars answered with a 6-2 run to close the
quarter and then scored the first six points in the fourth, holding the
Indians scoreless for the first 3:04, to open a 45-32 lead before
cruising from there.
“With so many good teams here, to go home with a trophy is quite an
accomplishment,” Joe Blodgett said.
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Toledo -- Boone 2-8 1-6 6, Stone 0-0 2-2 2, Hopf 0-1 1-2 1,
Buswell 2-4 1-1 5, Johnson 4-8 0-2 10, Growden 4-7 1-1 9, Wallace
4-11 0-0 8, Malmstrom 0-1 0-0 0, Catlin 1-6 1-2 3. Totals 17-46 7-16
44. |
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White Swan -- Romero 0-0 0-1 0, Allen 6-21 2-3 14, Lawrence 1-1
0-0 2, Reed 0-1 0-0 0, Strom 4-12 3-8 11, D. Blodgett 3-13 2-2 8, A.
Blodgett 5-11 0-0 10, Suppah 0-1 0-0 0, Aranda 3-10 0-0 6, Graybael
0-1 0-0 0, Wheeler 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-73 7-14
51. |
| Toledo |
13 |
7 |
12 |
12 |
-- |
44 |
| White Swan |
12 |
8 |
19 |
12 |
-- |
51 |
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3-point goals--T 3-10 (Johnson 2-3, Boone 1-4, Wallace 0-3), WS 0-19
(A. Blodgett 0-3, D. Blodgett 0-5, Strom 0-5, Aranda 0-6). Rebounds--T
52 (Wallace 11, Growden 10), WS 35 (Allen 13). Assists--T 10 (Hopf
3), WS 10 (Allen 4, Strom 4). Steals--T 4, WS 13 (Allen 4). Blocked shots--T
0, WS 3 (Allen 2). Fouled out--None.
Total fouls--T 15, WS 14. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--T 30, WS
7. |