When the Squalicum girls basketball team realized it couldn’t outmuscle Ferndale in their Northwest Conference matchup, the Storm used a different weapon — the 3-pointer — to shoot down the Golden Eagles, 62-47, on Monday, Jan. 5.
“We’ve been practicing our 3-pointers,” said Squalicum coach Caden Mee, whose squad improved to 9-2 overall and 5-1 in the NWC. “I’m really proud of the way they battled back and kept their heads high.”
Through the first half and midway through the third quarter, it was Ferndale coach Terri Yost who had the most to be proud of. Her team, which was not big to begin with, was without its only inside threat, senior Jillea Fox, who injured her knee last week.
Yet despite giving up inches and pounds to the Storm, the scrappy Golden Eagles stayed close in the first half. And when they held Squalicum scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half, they’d cut a double-digit deficit down to two.
But then the Storm troopers started firing away. Junior Colee Harper hit two straight 3-pointers to boost the lead back to eight. Then in the fourth quarter, the Storm sank three more 3s — two by Kai Perez — and put up 21 points to finally take command.
“It felt good to be back,” said Perez, who was only playing in her third game of the season after suffering a concussion. “We got in our groove and got over the hump after halftime. And we finally knocked down some shots.”
While Ferndale is known more for its outside shooting, it was the Storm who had the better of it Monday. They finished with 10 3-pointers — four of them by Perez, two each by Harper and junior Lexi Robbins, and one by junior Addison Kettman — to the Golden Eagles’ six.
Perez would finish with a game-high 18 points, Robbins had 11 points and a team-high 4 assists, Harper had 9 points, and juniors Tiana Thompson and Kettman had 8 points each.
The Storm also dominated the boards with 54 rebounds. Kettman led the way with 11, Avery Kettman and Harper had 8 each, and Perez, Thompson, and Robbins had 7 each. Addison Kettman and Perez also had 3 steals each to lead the team.
For the Golden Eagles, points were harder to come by, especially without Fox’s presence in the paint to open up their outside shots. Senior Abbey White did her best, hitting four 3-pointers and finishing with 15 points.
“It’s hard without her,” said White of Fox. “We’ve played all our lives together. We made it a really competitive game, and I thought at the beginning, we had an opportunity (to win). But then Kai and Lexi started heating up.”
Ferndale junior Brooklyn Larrabee slashed her way to the hoop for 10 points, all in the second half, and 4 assists; junior Kayla Lee and sophomore Ari Gilday did their best battling inside for 9 and 8 points, respectively, with Lee adding 7 rebounds and 4 steals.
“We definitely miss Jilly,” said Yost, whose squad dropped to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in league play. “But the girls rallied for her. It was competitive on both sides. But we’re still getting better, and we want to be playing our best at the end.”
So do the Storm.
“This is just the beginning for us,” said Mee, who praised his deep bench for their impact on the game. “Everyone is buying in. They are all engaged and working their butts off. We’d like to finish 17-3, and it’s more than doable.”
Squalicum is off until Saturday when the Storm travel to Mount Baker in a girls-boys doubleheader. Ferndale is at Everett on Tuesday in a non-league contest and then hosts Mount Vernon in a key Class 3A game on Thursday.
Squalicum 62, Ferndale 47
Squalicum 14 16 11 21—62
Ferndale 12 11 11 13—47
Squalicum: Av. Kettman 6, Paz 1, Horst, Singh-Sanchez 1, Perez 18, Thompson 8, Robbins 12, Harper 9, Ad. Kettman 8.
Ferndale: Larrabee 10, Gilday 8, Dawson, Washington 5, Kanda, Jefferson, Tom, Collins, White 15, Lee 9.
