By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Last night, the Seattle Academy girls basketball team (15-0 in Metro, 18-5 overall) survived a spirited effort from the West Seattle Wildcats, who entered the game without a Metro League win this season, in a district-qualifying showdown that kept fans on the edge of their seats from start to finish. The Cardinals ultimately secured a hard-fought 68-59 overtime victory.
West Seattle set the tone early, jumping out to a 6-2 lead behind the efforts of Enda Tito, Seneca Lucas and Ayla Moore, who capped the run with a steal she converted into a fastbreak layup. Dallas Dixon kept Seattle Academy within striking distance with a basket and a blocked shot on defense. West Seattle’s defensive pressure continued to disrupt the Cardinals’ offense as the Wildcats closed the quarter strong and took an 18-9 lead into the second.
The second quarter belonged to Seattle Academy. Trailing 20-9, the Cardinals went on a 9-0 run to pull back into the game. Nelson ignited the surge with a three-pointer, Zilliax and Whitehead scored inside, and Zilliax added another basket to cut the deficit to 20-18.
Out of a West Seattle timeout, Jolie Phirakong knocked down a three-point shot with 4:50 remaining to give Seattle Academy its first lead of the game, 21-20. The teams traded momentum from there. Brown answered with a three-pointer to put West Seattle back in front, but Zilliax and Whitehead responded to help the Cardinals take a 26-23 lead. Brown then drained another three-pointer to tie the game at 26-26.
Following a Seattle Academy timeout, Brown connected again from deep with 56.4 seconds left to give West Seattle a 29-26 lead. However, late turnovers stalled the Cardinals’ comeback attempt. Whitehead split a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining, sending West Seattle into halftime ahead 29-27.
Seattle Academy came out firing in the third quarter. Ava Engskov opened with a three-pointer to give the Cardinals a 30-29 lead. West Seattle answered immediately with a three from Lucas to retake the lead, and after a steal by Brown, Lucas converted to make it 34-30. Engskov knocked down her second three-pointer of the quarter to pull Seattle Academy within one, and after a scramble that went out of bounds, Moore scored under the rim to push the lead to 36-33. Whitehead responded with a three to tie the game at 36-36, and strong defense followed with blocks from Nelson and Whitehead.
After back-to-back timeouts midway through the quarter, Moore hit two free throws for West Seattle, but Nelson answered with consecutive three-pointers to swing the momentum back to the Cardinals and give Seattle Academy a 42-38 lead. West Seattle struggled with turnovers on its next possessions. Moore missed at the line, and Zilliax followed with a basket to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 44-38.
In the final minute of the quarter, Whitehead made one of two free throws to push the score to 45-38 before Lucas drilled a three at the buzzer. Seattle Academy led 45-41 entering the fourth.
The Cardinals struck first in the fourth as Dixon made two free throws to make it 47-41. Tito responded with a three-pointer, but the Cardinals answered with a free throw from Zilliax and a deep three from Nelson to stretch the lead to 51-44, prompting a Wildcat timeout.
After the timeout, Jackie Sutcliffe knocked down a three-pointer to keep it close, but Zilliax added two more at the line as Brown fouled out with 5:07 left. Nelson then hit another three-pointer at the 3:51 mark to extend the lead to 57-48.
West Seattle mounted a late rally as Lucas knocked down a three and Moore followed with a steal and layup to cut the deficit to four. In the final minute, Lucas made two free throws to pull within two, and moments later Moore came up with another steal, drew a foul and calmly sank both free throws to tie the game at 56-56 with 33 seconds left.
After a timeout and a tense final possession that ended in a jump ball with 9.3 seconds remaining, the teams were tied 56-56, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, West Seattle started with possession but immediately turned the ball over, allowing Engskov to hit a three-pointer to give Seattle Academy a 59-56 lead. Dagny Hendershott responded with a basket to narrow the score to 59-58, but Nelson answered with another three to push the Cardinals’ lead to 62-58.
Moore made one of two free throws to cut the deficit to 62-59, but Whitehead hit back-to-back three-pointers to extend the lead to 68-59. In the final minute, Moore left the game due to injury, and the clock ran out during Seattle Academy’s final possession as the Cardinals preserved their undefeated Metro record with the overtime victory.
After the game, West Seattle head coach Darnell Taylor, despite the loss, said he was proud of the way his team battled.
“I am super proud of the girls. We have come a long way this season and tonight was a great showing of our growth,” said Taylor. “We are very young, but I thought multiple girls stepped up tonight.”
Photos/Aaron Allen
