The Lady Warriors basketball team hosted Jackson Wednesday, beating the Timberwolves 50-39 in a 4A District 1 loser-out playoff game. Next up for E-W is Marysville-Pilchuck — the team they lost to by one point a week ago – at 6 p.m. Saturday on the Tomahawks’ home court.

After the Warriors opened up the game in the first quarter with a quick 7-2 lead, the Timberwolves coach was forced to take a timeout with 5:04 remaining to help her starters regroup.  But at the end of the first period, the Warriors looked like they were in control, with even scoring from four starters and a 16-8 lead.

EW separated early in the second and took a 22-11 lead with 5:46 left on the clock. But another Jackson timeout proved effective as the Timberwolves came out of the huddle with defense on their minds. The Warriors would only score one bucket and two free throws over the next agonizing four-and-a-half minutes, finishing with 10 points in the second quarter and a too-close-for- comfort 26-20 lead at the half.

First half scoring came from the the E-W bigs — Sydney Donaldson, Ashley Albertson and Angela Woods – with another three points from Alex Kinney.  Clearly the outside scoring was put on hold as the Jackson defense allowed very little from the perimeter. “We tried to open things up with the high post screen for our guards, but the Jackson players all had a foot in the paint to stop us” said E-W head coach Duane Hodges.

After a flat finish in the second quarter with no points in the last 3:17 of the period, the Warriors’ sluggish scoring continued into the third period, with nearly six-and-a-half minutes of scoreless basketball. After getting their first bucket at 4:15 and ending a 10-0 Jackson run, E-W finally found the basket with scoring coming from Woods and Donaldson. With 1:36 left, the Warriors had a 35-30 lead, increasing it to 37-30 going into the fourth.

Jackson’s leading scorer, Kelli Kingma, was limited to five points tonight — all from the free throw line — “thanks mostly to Amia (Nash) and Madeline (Kasper),” Hodges said. “They played some really tough defense and Madeline got into foul trouble doing it, but I don’t care, she’s such a great defender”.  He added: “When you hold one of the state’s leading scorers to five free throws, it’s really something to watch.”

After scoring only 21 points combined in the second and third periods, the E-W scoring broke loose and the Warriors were able to rack up 13 points in the fourth. Seven of those points came from Woods, who shot a stunning 11 of 14 from the free throw line in tonight’s game. Interestingly, the Warriors only got nine points from beyond the arc tonight.

“The bigs did so great tonight, I was really happy to see them produce like they did,” Hodges said. Albertson dominated the glass with 12 rebounds while Donaldson had six rebounds, five blocked shots and two steals.  Overall, E-W out-boarded Jackson 36-30.

Edmonds-Woodway scoring: Alex Kinney 5, Ashley Albertson 10, Sydney Donaldson 12, Angela Woods 21, Amia Nash 2.

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