By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
The Lakeside Lady Lions advanced to the state girls 3A basketball championship game with a 42-40 victory over the North Thurston Rams.
The game started slow offensively with both teams looking to find their rhythm, until the two-minute mark when Lakeside’s Kaliya Woodard hit her first three-point shot of the night, to give Lakeside an early lead. However, on the next possession, North Thurston’s Grace Lee followed with a three-point shot of her own to tie the game at 3. The remainder of the quarter was a back-and-forth battle, with both teams scoring on each possession, but Lakeside remained in the lead for the entire opening quarter. In the final two minutes, North Thurston’s Shayla Cordis took two trips to the free-throw line, converting 3 out of the 4 shots, and adding a jump shot to tie the game at 11-11 with 20 seconds remaining. Lakeside’s Helena Christofilis was then sent to the line converting one shot to bring the score to 12-11. North Thurston’s Soraya Ogaldez drained a smooth jump shot to take back the lead for North Thurston at 13-12.
Lakeside started the second quarter with the ball, but North Thurston quickly regained possession, as Cordis drove to the basket for two points. On the next possession, Lakeside’s Lili Brown hit a three-point shot, tying the game at 15-15, all within the first minute of the second quarter. Lakeside would go on a 6-0 run led by Willa Chinn to take a 21-15 lead. Lee ended Lakeside’s run with a three-point shot to make the score 21-18. Lee’s shot created some momentum for her team, as Cordis would follow with a three-point shot, and Ogaldez would end the quarter with a putback for two points, giving North Thurston a 23-21 lead at the end of the first half.
Lakeside started the second half with Brown at line, where she would convert both points to tie the game at 23. The score teetered back and forth, alternating the score each possession. Cordis was sent to the line where she missed both shots, but Sierra Cordis followed with a putback for two, taking the lead at 28-25. Woodard chipped in a basket, and Christofilis took a trip to the line, converting one attempt to tie the game at 28, with 3 minutes remaining. With one minute remaining, Chinn chipped in a basket, and then Brown picked up her 4th foul, sending North Thurston’s Patricia Hope Egrubay to the line, where she successfully tied the game once again at 30. During the Lions’ next possession, Egrubay stole the ball and drove down the court for a layup, as the Rams took the lead once again. Chinn would close out the quarter for Lakeside with two trips to the free-throw line, converting 2 out of 4 shots, to tie the game at 32-32, going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter began with both teams struggling to make a basket. At the 6:00 minute mark, Bhatia fouls North Thurston’s Kaylin Henderson, sending her to line, where she made one basket as North Thurston took a one-point, 33-32, lead. Christofilis followed with a layup that gave the Lions the lead at 34-33 lead. The Lions then went on a 6-0 run, as they took a 40-33 lead with two minutes left in the game. Shayla Cordis then stole the ball away from Lakeside and raced down the court for two points. Ogaldez followed on the Ram’s next possession with a three-point shot, making the score, 40-38, in favor of Lakeside with 55 seconds remaining.
To close out the final quarter, Ogaldez hit a contested jump shot in the paint to tie the game at 40, causing Lakeside to call a timeout with 10 seconds left on the clock. Shayla Cordis then picked up her fifth and final foul, exiting the game in tears. Chinn then took a trip to the line, where she made both shots, taking the lead at 42-40. North Thurston then called a timeout with 2.9 seconds on the clock. After the timeout, the clock ran out, and Lakeside secured a 42-40 victory over North Thurston, advancing to the championship game tomorrow.
Chinn finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds, and two assists to lead the Lions. Shayla Cordis finished the game with 15 points, three rebounds, and 2 assists to lead the Rams.
After the game, Lakeside Head Coach Mia Augustavo-Fisher was proud of her girls for sticking out the hard-fought win all the way until the end.
“It got really close at the end, and that is when you see who really wants to step up, and I think our whole team stayed together even through adversity,” said Augustavo-Fisher. “I think that is what made it hard because when you have such a good team you want to win, and not one person had unwavering faith, and everybody was locked in and very positive.”
“Our whole team stayed together the entire time, and I am so proud of them and honored to be their coach,” added Augustavo-Fisher.
With the win, Lakeside will take on Central Valley tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. for the 3A girls state basketball championship game, and North Thurston will face Garfield at 11:15 a.m., for the third and fifth place game.
