For the first half of Friday’s District 1 3A girls playoff game in Stanwood, the tallest player on the court, Tristan Murphy, kept the Spartans in the game against visiting Edmonds-Woodway. The second half, however, belonged to both the Warriors and the shortest player in the game — E-W’s Moni Jackson. Jackson scored 15 of her game-high 25 points in the final half and the Warriors pulled away late for a 71-65 win over the Spartans.

The Warriors came into the game having suffered back-to-back, double-digit defeats at the hands of Lynnwood and Glacier Peak.

“I was wondering how they would shake it off, but when I walked into practice, I know they were past it,” said Warriors coach Rebekah Wells. ” We started over, went over some fundamentals and gave it a new take on things. I went up to Natalie (Kasper) and Moni and said ‘OK, you guys have to step up tonight,’ and they did.”

E-W started the fourth quarter holding a narrow one-point lead, 50-49. The Warriors went on to score the first seven points of the final quarter, first with Jackson spinning by the Spartan post Murphy, followed by Mady Burdett stealing a pass at mid-court and converting the lay-in, and finally Jackson launching a 3-pointer.

The teams then traded baskets before six straight points by the Spartans closed the gap to 2. E-W’s Missy Peterson, who had battled foul trouble all night, re-entered the game at the 3:30 mark and hit a 3. After a Spartan basket, Burdett found Leah Bakken on a perfectly executed pick-and-roll and then following another Jackson 3-pointer, the Warriors were up by eight with just over a minute left. There wasn’t enough time left for the Spartans, who were forced to foul and hope for missed free throws, which didn’t happen.

The game started promisingly for the home team as Stanwood raced to a 9-3 lead. E-W would answer back with six straight points on baskets from Natalie Kasper, Peterson and Burdett, fed nicely by Peterson on the break.

“We were playing slow at the beginning of the half and we just told ourselves to pick it up,” Jackson said.

The first quarter ended with Jackson scoring eight Warrior points in a row, interrupted only by a 3 from Stanwood’s Ashley Bierer. Edmonds-Woodway led after one, 21-17.

The second period was a back-and-forth affair, with Peterson taking charge for E-W before foul trouble sent her to the bench. Peterson would pick up her third foul of the half with 30 seconds to go on a controversial offensive foul. Still, E-W managed to maintain a 38-37 lead at halftime.

Jackson led the Warriors’ first-half scoring with 10, followed by Peterson with 9. Murphy, the 6-foot senior center for Stanwood, led all scorers with 16. She would score only five more points in the game.

“We just changed the type of zone defense we did, putting two down on her,” said Wells.

The third quarter started with Peterson on the bench and the Spartans took advantage, moving out to a 45-40 lead. Jackson and Kasper both split a pair of free throws to narrow the gap to two when Peterson re-entered the game and immediately began to contribute. Peterson passed to Burdett for a jumper and then Burdett returned the favor, finding Peterson on the baseline for a reverse lay-in. Kasper converted a pair of free throws and Peterson went coast to coast for a lay-in, putting the Warriors briefly up by six.

“The speed of our game really changes with her (Peterson) in there,” Wells said. “That’s hard for a lot of teams to adjust to. She can just dribble the ball so well in transition. More of a scoring dynamic with her. ”

“I was getting in foul trouble but I had to keep my composure,” Peterson said. “The seniors are a really big leader on our team and I’m glad they kept us in the game.”

In addition to Jackson’s 25, Peterson added 16 despite playing less than half the game. Mady Burdett had 15, scoring in all four quarters.

“Moni’s a phenomenal player. She found her stride again,” Wells said. “She’s not afraid of a 6-foot player.”

E-W now advances to the District semi-finals against Lynnwood next Tuesday at Jackson High School. “We’re going to prepare hard for the game and hopefully get a win out of it,” Jackson said.

“We just have to focus on not turning it over and getting the fundamentals right,” added Wells.

Warriors 21 17 12 21  71
Spartans 17 20 12 16 65

Edmonds-Woodway scoring: Burdett 15, Kasper 9, Fyfe 4, Jackson 25, Bakken 2, Peterson 16, Wooley, Browning

— By Jeff Smarr

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