Puyallup girls edge Olympia, 35-33, in nonleague

Call it a warm-up for next season.

With Olympia High School relocating to the Class 4A South Puget Sound League at the beginning of the next school year, its nonleague girls basketball matchup at Puyallup on Saturday was pegged as a glimpse of what’s to come.

“It is a preview,” Puyallup coach Cherokee Ainslie said. “I think it’s going to make the South tough, and I think that’s great.”

The Vikings get to carry the 35-33 win into next season.

Puyallup allowed only one field goal by the Bears in the fourth quarter. Olympia finished 13 of 50 (26 percent) from the field.

Sophie Wood’s offensive rebound and putback with four minutes, 23 seconds remaining was the last time Olympia scored from the floor.

The Vikings’ shooting night wasn’t much better — 16 of 52 (30.7 percent) — but Taylor Hammel hit what was the eventual winning 3-pointer with more than five minutes remaining.

“I think we did a good job working together even though our shots weren’t falling, and really worked as a team,” Puyallup junior Madison Salisbury said.

Salisbury led the Vikings with 12 points, while Wood also tallied 12 for Olympia.

The teams traded six leads, with Olympia’s final lead coming after an 8-0 run to end the third quarter.

“I thought it was a good game as far as the kids learning,” Olympia coach Jackie Robinson said. “A lot of unfamiliar territory as far as kids starting. Everybody was thrown in different positions. People stepped up, though.”

Olympia had two of its regular starters absent from the lineup.

Jenna Randich — Olympia’s leading scorer, who is averaging 17.3 points per game — and Moriah Luthy were both given the game off after Friday night’s 48-18 rout of Stadium.

“It’s just back-to-back games,” Robinson said. “We’ve got a big week coming up.”

Olympia (10-6, 6-2 4A Narrows), currently in second place in league play, travels to third-place Gig Harbor on Wednesday. It then visits reigning league champion Bellarmine, which sits in first, and accounts for one of Olympia’s two league losses.

Puyallup (11-7, 6-4 4A SPSL) is tied with Rogers for fourth in its division — though Rogers currently owns the tiebreaker after winning part one of the series earlier this month.

This story was originally published January 23, 2016 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Puyallup girls edge Olympia, 35-33, in nonleague."