By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
On Tuesday morning, the Garfield Lady Bulldogs took on the White River Hornets in a loser-out game in the opening day of the state 3A girls’ basketball championship.
In the opening quarter, White River won the tipoff, but the Bulldogs—led by Star Smiley, Lena Most, and Jayda Lewis—quickly went on a 6-0 run. With 6:04 remaining and Garfield leading 6-0, White River called a timeout in hopes of freezing the Bulldogs’ momentum. Following the timeout, White River’s Maggee Schmitz was sent to the free-throw line and converted two free-throw points to narrow the gap to 6-2. Garfield was decidedly more aggressive during the first quarter, but White River was able to stay in the game with their rebounding. With 3:20 remaining in the first quarter, White River, behind the efforts of Vivian Kingston and Schmitz, outscored the Lady Bulldogs 10-1 as the two teams ended the opening quarter tied at 13.
During the second quarter, White River dug in on defense, holding the Bulldogs scoreless for the first two minutes of the quarter. However, Most went on a 7-0 run on her own, as Garfield extended their lead to 20-13. Following Most’s run, Kingston was fouled by Smiley, and she took a trip to the line and converted both shots, making the score 23-17. White River, amping up their offense and defense to keep up with Garfield, continued to make their way to the free-throw line three times, converting four out of six points. Kingston finished the first half with nine rebounds. However, Garfield ended the quarter on a high note as Roy drained a three-point shot, sending Garfield into halftime with a 26-21 lead.
The Bulldogs got off to a slow start in the second half, as they had trouble getting the ball to stay in the basket. White River, on the other hand, started the half off strong. Malia Froemke and Schmitz set the tone as they scored the first two points of the half for the Hornets. With 4:52 remaining in the third quarter, Smiley scored Garfield’s first two points of the second half, making the score 28-25, which the Bulldogs followed with a full timeout. After the timeout, White River took the lead as Froemke hit a jump shot, and Schmitz was fouled by Most, sending her to the free-throw line, where she converted both shot attempts. Garfield’s Mariah Roy followed with a three-point shot, as the Bulldogs reclaimed the lead at 31-29. Most then picked up her third foul, sending White River’s Gracie Banks to the line on an and-1, and she successfully made the extra point as the Hornets regained the lead at 32-31. To end the third quarter, the Bulldogs dominated offensively, with a steal from Garfield’s Kahmiya Bryant, who passed to Lewis, who found Roy on a jump shot. As the quarter came to an end, Garfield held a three-point, 37-34, lead over the Hornets.
Just 10 seconds into the final quarter, Schmitz was fouled by Roy, who calmly went to the free-throw line and converted both attempts to make the score 37-36 in favor of Garfield. The two teams battled back and forth in a very tense and exciting fourth quarter. The Lady Bulldogs built a 43-36 lead with six minutes left in the game. However, White River fought back and went on an 8-0 run to take a one-point lead at 44-43. The final three minutes of the game were hectic, as both teams on the court were diving all over the floor just trying to keep the ball in play. While Schmitz chipped in three points in the final minute, it was Lewis who closed out the game for Garfield, as she converted two points at the free-throw line to secure a hard-fought 51-47 victory for the Lady Bulldogs.
Most finished the game with 14 points and four rebounds, while Lewis had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Smiley finished the game with 10 points and three rebounds to lead Garfield. Schmitz finished the game with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Kingston finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds to lead White River.
After the game, Garfield Head Coach Roydell Smiley was proud of his team and was already looking ahead to their next opponent, Stanwood.
“[It was a] gritty win. We are whipping into this tournament, and the girls are showing fight, heart, and determination,” said Smiley.
“You can’t count the champions out just yet,” added Smiley. “I told the girls, let’s get our rest and then go straight into scouting. Stanwood is waiting for us, so let’s get off our feet, watch film, get a practice in, and get ready to go tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.”
