Just when everything looked bleak, Issaquah made a valiant run at undefeated Auburn Riverside.
The final push wasn’t enough, however, as the Eagles dropped Friday night’s 4A girls basketball semifinal, 58-40, to the undefeated Ravens.
“Credit to my team, they played hard, but the focus just wasn’t there on the defensive end and the offensive end, and we’ve got to give credit to Auburn Riverside,” Issaquah head coach Kathy Gibson said
Trailing 41-28, and with their top scorer, Maddey Pflaumer, just fouled out at the 6:47 mark of the fourth quarter, things weren’t looking good for the Eagles.
Instead of folding, Issaquah rose to the challenge.
The Eagles rattled off nine straight points, in less than two minutes, bringing the score to 41-37 with 4:51 left. Mackenzie Schiltz drilled two three-pointers and Brooke Miller had another. The run was sparked by Issaquah’s full-court press, which forced six Raven turnovers in the fourth quarter.
That’s as close as the Eagles would get, however, as Auburn Riverside’s Mercedes Wetmore took over from there. The University of Washington-bound senior scored 11 of her 17 points in the final 4:09, boosting her team to an 17-3 run to close out the game.
“We didn’t match that physical style of play,” Gibson said “You’ve got to play your best basketball to beat good teams and we didn’t.”
Auburn Riverside led the entire game, taking a 18-9 lead after one quarter and a 28-15 lead to the locker room at halftime. The Ravens maintained that double-digit cushion Issaquah’s late run.
Kathleen Cooper also scored 17 and had 11 rebounds for Auburn Riverside, while Taylor Wofford had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Miller led Issaquah with 14 points, hitting on four three-pointers. Maddey Pflaumer added seven points and Mackenzie Schiltz had six.
Auburn Riverside advanced to the state championship game to be played at 9 p.m., tomorrow against Mead. The game will be broadcast live on FSN, following the boys 4A title game between Jackson and Kentwood.
Issaquah will face KingCo 4A rival Garfield at 3:30 p.m., in a battle for third place. The loser will finish sixth.
