W.F. West outlasts Tumwater in OT to grab share of first place in 2A EvCo

W.F. West High School and Tumwater played very similar basketball games three weeks apart.

The first time, in Chehalis, freshman Isabella Lund led the T-Birds in scoring. Wednesday night in Tumwater, she did so again.

Senior Madi Haakenson also led the Bearcats both times. In each game, the T-Birds fell behind by six points midway through the fourth quarter, but rallied.

Both games were excruciatingly close, but after falling at home by three points to Tumwater earlier, W.F. West survived the T-Birds’ late heroics to win, 55-54, in overtime on the road.

“There wasn’t much difference,” W.F. West coach Tom Kelly said of the two games. “I thought we played better defense tonight. We didn’t press and let them get into the open court. We rebounded better. We beat a good team even though we didn’t play that well.”

Tumwater coach Robin Johnson knew her young team wouldn’t have an easy time.

“We know both teams wanted it badly, we expected them to bring it,” she said. “I don’t think we executed very well. They did. Our inexperience showed today, but you can’t get experience except by playing these kind of games.”

The outcome left W.F. West (13-5) and Tumwater (16-2) with identical 7-1 records in Class 2A Evergreen Conference play.

If both win their final two games of the regular season, Tumwater will retain the top seed from the 2A EvCo heading into districts by virtue of a narrow two-point edge in point differential.

Lund had 19 points in the first meetings of the two programs, and 20 on Wednesday, while fellow freshman Aubrey Amendala added 11, including a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game at 48-48 with 37 seconds left in regulation.

W.F. West’s scouting report on the T-Birds clearly included instructions to get the ball in to Haakenson at the high post, and let her operate. After tallying 21 points in the first meeting, she upped her production to 27 this time around, using a variety of moves inside, passing to cutters when Tumwater double-teamed her.

“Our coach loves when people drive to the basket and get fouled,” Haakenson said. “I post up and go to the basket hoping to create contact.”

Freshman Drea Brumfield added 10 points and junior guard Maggie Vadala nine for the Bearcats, though Vadala and Annika Waring both fouled out.

“We had a lot of foul trouble,” said Haakenson after a game in which the teams attempted a combined 56 free throws. “But, our bench stepped up and really helped.”

Tumwater hung tough in the first quarter despite 13 turnovers — the same amount they had for the final three quarters and overtime combined. Every basket scored by either team in the opening period tied the score or gave the shooter’s team the lead, until Haakenson gave W.F. West a 3-point cushion, scoring inside off a pass from Vadala to make it 12-9.

Tumwater got the lead back at 20-18 with less than two minutes left to play before intermission, but Haakenson tied it with a follow shot at the halftime buzzer.

After five lead changes in the early minutes of the second half, W.F. West pulled away to the biggest lead either team would have, 41-34, with 5:23 to go on a Brumfield free throw.

The T-Birds put together a 9-2 run to tie it at 43-43 on a pair of Amendala free throws. That’s when Kelly used three full timeouts in less than a minute to help guide the Bearcats to a 48-43 lead.

But Tumwater wouldn’t go away, rallying to get a free throw each by Olivia Bailon and Cassie Kaufman before Amendala brought down the house with her tying 3-pointer from right in front of the Tumwater bench.

“Their quickness hurts us,” Kelly said. “We’re not slow, but they’re bouncier than we are.”

W.F. West grabbed the lead right away in overtime on a pair of back down moves by Haakenson. The Bearcats opened the door for a Tumwater comeback by making just 3 of 8 from the foul line in the final two minutes, and the T-Birds twice cut the lead to a single point, with the ball.

Eventually, the clock ran out on Tumwater, which faces a bit of a tougher remaining schedule than W.F. West with Friday’s crosstown showdown at Black Hills looming.

The Wolves have welcomed back senior forward Maisy Williams, a Central Washington signee, to the active roster, making them a bit tougher than the first time the rivals met.

“I told them they can be sad tonight, but come to school tomorrow with their heads held high, go back to the drawing board and get ‘em on Friday,” Johnson said.

TEAM STATISTICS

WFW – Shooting: 19 of 51 (37.3 percent). Free throws: 15 of 28 (54.8). Turnovers: 16.

T – Shooting 16 of 38 (33.3 percent). Free throws: 16 of 28 (57.1). Turnovers: 26.

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

WFW – Maggie Vadala 9, Drea Brumfield 10, Courtney Bennett 3, Sarah Haakenson 1, Annika Waring 5, Madi Haakenson 27.

T – Sophia Koelsch 2, Katie Cunningham 8, Natalie Sumrok 4, Olivia Bailon 4, Aubrey Amendala 11, Isabella Lund 20, Cassie Kaufman 5.