The last piece to the District 1 3A Girls Basketball Tournament was determined Monday night as the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors earned the final berth into this year’s district tourney by outlasting the Lynnwood Royals 54-43 at Meadowdale High School.

With the victory, the Warriors will be the no. 11 seed in the 12-team district tournament that begins play on Wednesday, Feb. 12. 

The Royals were not only denied entry into the postseason district tourney with Monday’s loss, but saw their season come to an end with an overall record of 2-20.

E-W’s win over Lynnwood didn’t come easily as the two teams traded the lead throughout the contest. The game featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties before the Warriors were able to pull away with a 15-6 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter. 

Finley Wichers led all scorers in the game with 21 points after struggling through a scoreless first quarter. Despite the slow start, the E-W junior wasn’t too concerned.

“First quarters are not my strongest suit,” Wichers said. “I usually come out in the second and third. I think sometimes the nerves can get to me. (But) it kind of doesn’t bother me.”

While Wichers couldn’t find her scoring touch early, the Royals enjoyed a sharp-shooting first quarter, sinking four 3-pointers and ending the first eight minutes with a 14-10 lead.

After the first half ended with Lynnwood clinging to a one-point advantage, 26-25, the two teams took turns leading multiple times in the third quarter. The final lead change of the quarter came on a Wichers’ 3-pointer with four seconds remaining to send the Warriors into the fourth up 39-37. 

The Royals wrestled the lead away in the first minute of the fourth quarter when junior Ena Dodik scored and was fouled by Wichers. The resulting three-point play gave Lynnwood a 40-39 advantage, but it would be the team’s final lead of the night as the Warriors subsequently went on a 15-3 run to end the game and claim the victory.

Royals’ Coach Eddie McFerrin said his team’s fourth-quarter letdown was unfortunate. 

“When it gets down to the fourth quarter and we need those breaks, we just didn’t get a chance to get those today,” McFerrin said. “We went on one of those scoring droughts and we just weren’t able to put up some hoops.”

A pair of freshmen — Nina Wilson and Alexis Tamayo — led the Royals in scoring. Wilson ended the game with 15 points and Tamaya scored 11 points. Dodik also added 11 points in the loss.

E-W, in addition to Wichers’ game-high 21 points, saw a big contribution from Jasmine Gill, who came off the bench to score 14 points in the contest.

The Warriors’ non-starters scored a total of 22 points in the game compared to just one point from the Royals’ bench players.

Edmonds-Woodway will open the District 1 3A Girls Basketball Tournament with a home game on Wednesday, Feb. 12. The Warriors will face the tourney’s no. 6 seed, the 13-6 Mount Vernon Bulldogs, in a loser-out matchup. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Wichers knows that Wednesday’s loser-out tournament opener will be a challenge for her Warrior teammates.

“Definitely tougher competition, but I love (being) an underdog,” Wichers said. “So we’ll see. I hope we get farther (in the tournament), I really do.”

For the Royals, the season ends with just two wins but plenty of hope for the future.

“Aside from the wins and losses, we learned a lot,” McFerrin said. “We had a great group of girls. We really gelled off the court; I wish that would have translated to the court.”

“I’m very encouraged. This is a great group of girls,” McFerrin continued. “We loved every minute of this season. Even through the losses – we really don’t care. We just want to see them competitive, having fun, become better players and people on and off the court.”

Joining the Warriors in the District 1 tournament will be the Mountlake Terrace Hawks, who were awarded the tourney’s no. 9 seed and will play the Ferndale Golden Eagles on Wednesday in another tournament loser-out game. Tipoff at Ferndale High School is 7 p.m.

The no. 2-seeded Meadowdale Mavericks will get to bypass the tournament’s loser-out round and will play their first District tourney game at home Friday, Feb. 14, against the winner of the Monroe-Sedro Woolley game. Win-or-lose on Friday, the Mavericks will continue play in the district tourney next week.

The top-four finishers at the District 1 3A Girls Basketball Tournament qualify for the regional round of the WIAA 3A state tourney later this month.

To view the entire District 1 3A Girls Basketball Tournament bracket, click www.wpanetwork.com/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php?act=view&tournament_id=4578. 

Prep Girls Basketball: Lynnwood vs. Edmonds-Woodway, Feb. 10

Lynnwood 14 12 11   6 – 43

Edmonds-Woodway 10 15 14 15 – 54

Lynnwood individual scoring: Nina Wilson 15, Lexi Tamaya 11, Ena Dodik 11, Shifa Hanchinamani 3, Vanessa Olivar 2, Isatou Camara 1

Edmonds-Woodway individual scoring: Finley Wichers 21, Jasmine Gill 14, Annika Beckstrom 8, Darcy Brennan 6, Janie Hanson 4, Audrey Rothmier 1, Amelia Miller

Records: Lynnwood 0-12 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 2-20 overall; Edmonds-Woodway 2-10 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 10-11 overall

Lynnwood next game: 2024-2025 season completed

Edmonds-Woodway next game: versus opponent to-be-determined; Wednesday, Feb. 12; 7 p.m. at site to be announced (District 1 3A Girls Basketball Tournament loser-out game)

— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski