BELLARMINE PREP STOPS HEARTS WITH PLAYOFF FOOTBALL WINS
Down two touchdowns with less than four minutes to play, most teams would cash it in. But Bellarmine Prep pulled off some familiar playoff magic, rallying to score 17 points in the final three minutes – capped by a 20-yard field goal by Matthew Philichi with nine seconds remaining – for a 38-35 win at Newport on Nov. 16 in the 4A state playoffs.
“They have realized that it doesn’t matter what is going on, just go hard,” said Bellarmine Prep head coach Tom Larsen. “They have bought into (the belief that) the scoreboard doesn’t tell you how to play, your heart does. And they did that.”
Drew Griffin’s interception on the goal line in overtime sealed another improbable win for Bellarmine Prep, as they beat the Bothell Cougars 20-17 in the 4A state quarterfinals on Nov. 23 at Mount Tahoma Stadium. The Lions finally fell to top-ranked Camas in the state semifinals the following week at the Tacoma Dome.
BAILEY FINISHES STRONG TO WIN STATE BOWLING TITLE
Shannon Bailey insists she wasn’t paying attention to the growing excitement around her. It was hard not to peak at other scores, as the Wilson junior bowler headed into the final round of the state championship tied for the individual lead with Everett’s Candice Goldfinch, who had bowled a 256 in her fifth game to pull even.
Goldfinch then put up four strikes in her first five frames in the final round to take the lead, while Hudson’s Bay’s Dakota Varela – bowling on the same lane as Bailey – rattled off six straight strikes to move into second place. But Bailey saved her best for last, collecting six straight strikes of her own from the fifth to tenth frames to claim the 1A/2A/3A individual title on Feb. 7 at Narrows Plaza Lanes.
“I was a little excited, but I was like ‘I’ll just stay calm and bowl my game,’” said Bailey, an Annie Wright student who joined the Rams this fall. “I just bowled what I normally bowl. I just got in the zone and stayed (there).”
LADY LIONS CAPTURE 4A CROSS COUNTRY CROWN
Placing four runners in the top 20 finishers, Bellarmine Prep edged Camas for the team title at the 4A cross country state meet on Nov. 9 in Pasco.
Sophomore Emily Thomas led the way for the Lions by placing 14th individually in a personal-best time of 18 minutes and 35.33 seconds, with junior Laura Staeheli just five seconds behind in placing 16th. Junior Miranda Ross placed 18th and senior Jordan Thurston took 20th, just under 17 seconds behind Thomas. The Lions had a team score of 92, while Camas placed second with 105 points. Camas’ Alexa Efraimson won the individual title by finishing in 17 minutes and 1.10 seconds, over 55 seconds better than second-place finisher Lindsey Bradley of Richland.
FOSS’ CHARD WINS TITLE AT 3A STATE SWIM MEET
The 3A state meet was the final piece of business for Foss swimmer Emma Chard before preparing for her college career at Boise State. And the Falcons’ senior didn’t disappoint, winning the 100-yard freestyle in an All-American time of 50.17 seconds on Nov. 16 at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
“It’s been really fun this season,” Chard said shortly after leading off the meet with a 14th place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with seniors Sarah Sachs and Yana Kuloff and sophomore Nicole Ripley. “(I’ve) kind of been sad and happy at the same time. (But) I’m excited for this.”
Chard added a second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing in a time of one minute and 3.89 seconds that earned All-American consideration.
LINCOLN GRAPPLERS TAKE CITY CHAMPIONSHIP AGAIN
The Lincoln wrestlers are kings of Tacoma once again. For the second straight year, the Abes sent 12 wrestlers to the finals, and claimed seven individual championships to edge Bellarmine Prep for the city title at the Tacoma City Championships on Jan. 24 at Bellarmine Prep.
“It’s incredible for us as a team,” said Lincoln senior 220-pounder Aliyas Fletcher. “We’ve been winning a lot of tournaments, we’ve been getting a lot of success. But now we’re able to say we’re the best in the city…and that’s something we should be proud of.”
BELLARMINE VOLLEYBALL GOES BACK-TO-BACK
Behind two-time Gatorade Washington Player of the Year and University of Washington commit Courtney Schwan, Bellarmine Prep outlasted Curtis in five sets on Nov. 16 at Saint Martin’s University to earn the 4A state title for the second year in a row.
The Lions topped the Vikings 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-9 in a thriller, with Schwan leading the team with 25 kills and being named the state tournament MVP.
Behind Schwan, senior libero Julia Wright, senior Emily Newberry and juniors Reghan Pukis, Natalie Jensen and Claire Martin, the Lions put up a perfect 35-0 record on the year and went 12-0 in the Narrows 4A. They lost just four total sets on the season, and the matchup in the finals was the only time they were pushed to five sets. The Lions became just the seventh team to go back-to-back in 4A state volleyball history.
“This was the right team to do it with, if any,” said Bellarmine Prep head coach Jody DeGroot, who was later named one of two national coaches of the year.
ABES CLAIM DISTRICT TITLE OVER RAMS
The Lincoln Abes boys were chanting “Back to Back!” at center court following their 80-70 West Central District championship victory over cross-town rival Wilson on Feb. 22. The two highly-ranked squads squared-off for the fourth time this season and as expected, the game was intense from tip-off to final buzzer at the near-capacity Pacific Lutheran Gymnasium.
Both teams had four players score in double figures, but the Abes’ Ahmaad Rorie was the difference in this game. Rorie finished with a game-high 24 points and sparked Lincoln throughout the game on both ends of the floor.
LADY ABES HOLD OFF MOUNTLAKE TERRACE FOR STATE BERTH
Lincoln’s speedy guards and hard-working posts took turns providing the offense against Mountlake Terrace, and the Lady Abes needed every single point. Lincoln built a 10-point lead early in the third quarter and held off the Hawks for a 61-59 on Feb. 28 at Mount Tahoma High School to punch their ticket to the Tacoma Dome.
“This is a big step for us,” said senior forward Breneya Johnson, who finished with team highs of 18 points and 22 rebounds. “We always knew we had the talent to do it, and we’re just now proving it to everybody…we’ve proved that we deserve this.”
LADY RAMS HEADING BACK TO THE DOME
Recoiling from last week’s West Central Title defeat, the Wilson Lady Rams were able to close the deal when the situation became lose-and-go-home. Wilson defeated Ferndale 59-54 in the State Regional Final at a nearly-packed Mt. Tahoma gymnasium on March 1 to claim their second straight trip to the 3A State Tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
Wilson (19-5) dictated the flow for much of the game, but was unable to shake off the talented Ferndale squad. It was clear Ferndale wasn’t used to the physical style of Wilson’s defense, and it kept them off-balanced for much of the game.
PENALTY SHOOTOUTS ARE NO FRIEND OF TACOMA SOCCER TEAMS
Four Tacoma boys teams took to the pitch in the opening round of the district playoffs and three went down with the loss via the penalty shootout. After regulation play ends in the playoff there are two sudden death, or “golden goal,” overtime periods of five minutes. If the teams are still tied after overtime, they will face-off in a five-shot penalty shootout.
It’s one of the most exciting happenings in all of sports – unless you happen to be from Tacoma this season. Wilson, Bellarmine and Mt. Tahoma all felt the sting of the penalty shootout.
TACOMA TRACK AND FIELD – SOME GOLD IN THE BUNCH
It was a bit of a lean year for Tacoma high schools at the state track and field meets this year. While only four schools scored points in state events, there were some championship performances among them.
Bellarmine’s Hannah Derby completed the near-impossible winning her fourth consecutive 4A 400-meter dash title and added a third-place finish in the 800 meters.
Lincoln’s Therron Randle and Ahmaad Rorie both brought home championships for the Abes in the 3A meet. Randle was victorious in the 300-meter hurdles, while Rorie leaped to a first in the triple jump and third-place showing in the long jump.
Tacoma Baptist boys were led by Austin Lutterloh’s championship run in the 2B 300 hurdles and a third-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles. The Crusader girls team won the 4x200 meter relay and missed out on their fifth-consecutive 4x100 title having to settle for second. McKenna Neufeld also finished second in both the 100 and 200 meter hurdles.
Writers Justin Gimse, Jeremy Helling and Steve Mullen contributed to this story