Timberline tumbles to Kennedy, 59-50, and out of tournament

BELLEVUE - No matter how many times Timberline tried to inch closer, Kennedy Catholic had an answer - and a multitude of them, at that.

The fourth-ranked Lancers used a combination of outside shooting and interior post play to its advantage in a 59-50 victory over the Blazers in a loser-out game of the regional round of the 3A girls state tournament on Saturday afternoon at Bellevue College.

Timberline’s dream season came to an end at 23-2 against a state powerhouse that handed the team its only two losses this season. Kennedy also defeated Timberline, 49-42, in a district tournament game.

After needing a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Shorecrest on Friday night, the Blazers didn’t have much time to celebrate. And it didn’t help that the Lancers also were fighting for their tournament lives after a loss to top-ranked Holy Names on Friday night.

Much of Kennedy’s offense came from Aminah Williams and Allie Madison. Williams used her strength inside to score 17 points and pull down 22 rebounds, and Madison led all scorers with 24 points – including three second-half 3-pointers.

The Lancers also got an all-around performance from point guard Jasmine Lemon (seven points, eight rebounds, nine assists, seven steals) as they advanced to the Tacoma Dome to face second-ranked Prairie at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the 3A quarterfinals.

Timberline senior McKenzie Raben had the hot touch all afternoon, hitting all five of her 3-pointers, including two straight to start the game. She and Cymone Martin shared team-high honors with 16 points apiece. But the Lancers’ trap didn’t allow Timberline to shoot from the outside much in the second half. The Blazers attempted five second-half 3-pointers.

“It was the little things that killed us,” Timberline guard Camille Williams said.

Timberline trailed 24-22 at halftime and 40-35 going into the fourth quarter after Martin’s buzzer-beating bucket capped off a 7-2 run. But Williams and Madison did the damage in the final quarter for Kennedy, combining for 14 of the Lancers’ 19 fourth-quarter points. Madison hit back-to-back 3s to give Kennedy at 46-37 advantage with 6:01 to play.

Timberline cut it to 51-44 on Sasha Weber’s 3-pointer – her only field goal of the second half – but didn’t get closer the rest of the way.

Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473 mwochnick@theolympian.com