The Storm took a half to build up but then pounded Lakewood as the Squalicum girls basketball team hammered the Cougars, 58-27, in a Class 2A District 1 consolation game on Monday, Feb. 17, at Mount Vernon High School.
The Storm now moves on to play Burlington-Edison on Thursday at 6 p.m. in another loser-out contest at Mount Vernon. Squalicum is two victories away from reaching the state tournament for the first time since 2010 and only the third time in school history.
“I am so happy for them,” said Squalicum coach Jenalyn Brown, whose team improved to 13-9. “I asked them to battle for their school and to start setting new ‘bars’ to jump over for themselves, and it started with winning this game.”
The game was the only one involving a Whatcom team on Monday, and the Storm took advantage of the spotlight.
They rallied from an early deficit to tie the game at 20 at the half thanks to the eight points of Squalicum freshman Kai Perez. But two quick fouls forced her to the bench two minutes into the second half, and things looked bleak for the Storm, who were already missing injured starter Addison Kettman.
But instead of fading, Squalicum came out firing. Leading just 27-24 midway through the third period, the Storm went on a 13-0 run and only a Lakewood 3-point heave at the buzzer kept the Cougars within 40-27 going into the fourth quarter.
Not that it matter because Squalicum outscored Lakewood, 18-0, in the final period. That’s a 31-3 run to close out the game.
Leading the charge was sophomore Lexi Robbins. The point guard not only ran the efficient Squalicum offense, dishing out 4 assists, but she continued her recent scoring surge with a team-high 18 points. Fourteen of her points and two of her three 3-pointers came in the second-half explosion.
“I realized we were down so I knew we had to turn it up a little bit,” she said. “I knew it started when one person gets fired up, the whole team works together to get fired up, and we just went on a roll.” She called it, “Contagious hype.”
Contagious it was. Seven different Storm players scored in the second half and whether playing their trapping zone or aggressive man-to-man defense, the Squalicum girls limited Lakewood to only 13 points over the final three quarters and held the Cougars to their lowest point total of the season.
“Lexi has locked in on what it takes to win and makes it spread to her teammates,” said Brown.
Despite eventually fouling out, Perez had 11 points for the Storm and was the hero of the first half. Carli Kiesau added 10 points and 7 rebounds, and fellow sophomore Tiana Thompson had 9 points and 14 rebounds. Squalicum also got big-time minutes from two more sophomores, reserves Colee Harper and Peyton Horst, who combined for 8 points.
Next up for the Storm is the formidable and familiar challenge of Burlington-Edison, which clobbered Anacortes in the other consolation game Monday, 58-28. The Tigers are ranked fifth in the state and defeated Squalicum on Dec. 9, 66-46.
Win or lose Thursday, Brown was looking at the bigger picture especially with only one senior and one junior on the sophomore-heavy roster.
“We all need something to ‘fight for’ and it could be ourselves or it could be the bigger-than-ourselves moments,” she said of the team’s playoff run.
Monday’s loss ended Lakewood’s season at 10-14.
Squalicum 58, Lakewood 27
Lakewood 14 6 7 0—27
Squalicum 9 11 20 18—58
Lakewood: Tocco 4, Stewart 7, Pevny, Bagtas 4, Riveira 7, Morales 1, Hite, Perez 3, Jones 1, Escalante.
Squalicum: Murphy-Kangas 2, Blue, Singh-Sanchez, Horst 3, Perez 11, Thompson 9, Kiesau 10, Robbins 18, Harper 5 Gibbs.
CLASS 2A GIRLS DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Monday, Feb. 17
Consolation games
At Mount Vernon
Squalicum 58, Lakewood 27 (loser out)
Burlington-Edison 53, Anacortes 28 (loser out)
Wednesday, Feb. 19
At Mount Vernon
Championship game
Lynden (23-0) vs. Archbishop Murphy (21-1), 6 p.m. (winner first, to state regionals)
Thursday, Feb. 20
At Mount Vernon
Consolation game
Squalicum (13-9) vs. Burlington-Edison (20-4), 6 p.m. (loser out)
Saturday, Feb. 22
At Mount Vernon
Consolation final
Squalicum-Burlington winner vs. Lynden-Archbishop Murphy loser, 5:15 p.m. (winner second, to state regionals, loser out)
