Right now, the Zillah girls are playing like a Saturday night team — which means that, tomorrow, they get to be a Saturday morning team.

Zillah's Rosebud Guthrie shoots while defended by Seattle Academy's Claire Wright on Friday morning.   ANDY SAWYER/Yakima Herald-Republic

After what happened on day one of the Class 1A girls state basketball tournament, getting to play in Saturday morning’s 5th-8th-place trophy game was the only prize they could hope for. And, boy, have the Leopards earned it.

In the two days since a paralyzing bout with opening-day jitters in their first-round loss to Chelan, the Leopards have played with the breezy air of kids on Senior Skip Day. Their 74-32 victory over Seattle Academy was, well ...

“It was really fun,” beamed Zillah sophomore Bayli Ziegler, who came off the bench to shoot 7-for-9 en route to 15 points, making her one of four Leopards scoring in double figures. “The first day, we were all really nervous, and now we’re on a mission. We know what we want to do here.

“When we’re having fun, we play a lot better.”

Joelle Patterson scored 16 points, Rosebud Guthrie added 11 points and four blocks and Cassie Ziegler had 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. And Felicia Gonzales had four assists as well, occasionally grinning as the Leopards took off on another fast break.

When that was brought to her attention, Gonzales said sheepishly, “I gotta quit smiling, I guess.”

Absolutely not. Coach Mindi Winters loved it, especially now that her 21-6 team has overcome that loss to Chelan and will play Burbank at 9 a.m. Saturday for fifth place.

“I’m so proud of them,” Winters said. “They had that devastating blow at the beginning, and you don’t want to see that take away their spirit — you worry that it’s going to carry over. But they’re resilient.

“Today, they were happy, excited, making the extra pass, getting the loose ball. They were having fun.”

Jade Langston and Makenzie Brandon each scored 10 points for Seattle Academy (18-9), but Friday’s game was all Zillah.

Winters couldn’t help wondering what might have been, had the Leopards reached that relaxed frame of mind not on Thursday and Friday, but on Wednesday.

“You wish it would have been one day earlier — just one day earlier,” she said. “But I’m proud of this team.”

Seattle Academy -- Berry 0-1 0-0 0, Furubayashi 0-1 0-0 0, Laube 0-3 0-0 0, Langston 5-9 0-0 10, Hooyman 0-5 0-0 0, Higgins 2-10 0-0 5, Hayes 0-3 0-0 0, Brandon 4-17 1-3 10, Cayce 0-2 0-0 0, Jourdan 3-7 0-5 7, Kaplan 0-0 0-0 0, Wright 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 14-60 1-8 32.
Zillah -- B. Ziegler 7-9 0-0 15, F. Gonzales 2-6 2-2 6, C. Ziegler 4-6 2-4 11, Sevigny 0-2 0-0 0, S. Gonzales 2-4 1-1 6, Duce 0-1 0-1 0, Uasike 0-0 0-0 0, Patterson 5-9 4-6 16, Walker 1-4 1-2, Guthrie 5-13 1-3 11, Cardenas 2-4 2-2 6, Brady 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 13-21 74.
Seattle Academy	8	6	16	2	--	32
Zillah	19	13	20	22	--	74
3-point goals--SA 3-21 (Brandon 1-4, Jourdan 1-4, Higgins 1-7, Hooyman 0-1, Cayce 0-1, Hayes 0-1, Laube 0-3), Z 5-10 (Patterson 2-2, B. Ziegler 1-1, C. Ziegler 1-2, S. Gonzales 1-2, Sevigny 0-1, F. Gonzales 0-2). Rebounds--SA 36 (Langston 8), Z 48 (C. Ziegler 7, Uasike 7). Assists--SA 7 (Hooyman 3), Z 14 (F. Gonzales 4, C. Ziegler 4). Steals--SA 7 (Jourdan 2, Langston 2), Z 15 (Patterson 4). Blocked shots--SA 1, Z 4 (Guthrie 4). Fouled out--Brandon. Total fouls--SA 18, Z 12. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--SA 20, Z 16.