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.

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.

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.
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
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.