
By Chris B. Bennett, The Seattle Medium
The top two teams in the Metro League squared off for the fourth time this season, this time for the SeaKing District championship. Coming off a 13-point loss to Garfield in the Metro League championship game, Lakeside, who had lost their previous two meetings against the Lady Bulldogs by an average of 17.5 points, was looking to advance to the state tournament with confidence and momentum.
“Honestly, I thought we could’ve won the other [games], but obviously the scoreboard didn’t reflect that,” said Lakeside Head Girls Basketball Coach Mia Augustavo-Fisher. “The main thing is we try to measure each game if we’re getting better at certain areas. And last game, even though the scoreboard didn’t reflect it, we noticed that we did make some progressions in other areas that we wanted to.”
The game commenced with both teams eager to assert their dominance. Garfield jumped out to an 11-8 lead behind the play of Jayda Lewis, Maya Davis, and Sarah Lessig. But Lakeside ended the first quarter on a high note, as Lili Brown hit a three-point shot, a baseline jumper, and a layup to ignite an 11-0 run as her team held a 19-11 lead going into the second quarter.
As the second quarter unfolded, Garfield showed resilience. Sarah Lessig’s jump shot early in the quarter cut the lead to 19-15, signaling a potential comeback. However, Lakeside responded with force. Sophia David landed back-to-back three-pointers, propelling Lakeside to another scoring run. By the end of the half, Lakeside had outscored Garfield 27-8 since midway through the first quarter and held a commanding 35-18 lead at halftime.
Lakeside’s Anvi Bhatia gave her team a huge momentum lift as she was fouled on a shot attempt with 22 seconds left in the half and completed the “and one” three-point play after knocking down the ensuing free throw.
The third quarter saw Garfield mounting a determined comeback. Led by Lessig’s nine points and a three-point shot from Starr Smiley, the Bulldogs managed to cut Lakeside’s lead down to three points at 40-37, with about three minutes left in the quarter.
However, the fourth quarter belonged to Mia Broom and the Lakeside Lions. Broom scored 12 points during the quarter, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, while teammate Willa Chinn went 6 for 8 down the stretch from the free-throw line to help seal the win for Lakeside, as the Lions went on a 20-6 run to close out the game.
Broom would finish the game with 24 points, including going 6 for 6 from the free-throw line.
“She’s awesome,” said Coach Augustavo-Fisher. “She’s a great leader. I think she’s one of our best players to come out of the Lakeside program. She’s awesome on the court, off the court, and I honestly think she’s one of the best guards in the state.”
Garfield Head Coach Roydell Smiley was kicked out of the game with 4:12 remaining after receiving two technical fouls. The first technical foul was called after Garfield’s Katie Fiso fouled out of the game and Garfield took too long to get a sub in the game, despite the player heading to the scorer’s table to check in when the technical foul was called. Smiley received a subsequent technical foul while contesting the first technical foul.
Lakeside would claim the SeaKing District championship with a 60-43 victory over Garfield and earned the top SeaKing District seed heading into next week’s regional finals.
Lessig scored 18 points to lead Garfield, who will enter the regional finals as the SeaKing District’s number two seed.
“Congrats to a really good Garfield team,” said Coach Augustavo-Fisher after the game. “They’re super talented and someone we really look forward to playing. Kudos to our team for execution, and for going out there with the winner’s mentality, even though we lost like a couple of other [games against them] this year. They showed a lot of grit, and poise and they were able to execute offensively and defensively [to our game plan] perfectly. So, I’m very proud of our team tonight.”
Pictorial Highlights Of Garfield vs Lakeside SeaKing Girls Basketball Championship






Staff Photos/Aaron Allen