Arlington lady hoopsters beat Kamiak

MARYSVILLE — In a game that saw neither team lead by more than three points until halfway through the fourth quarter, Arlington pulled out a 57-54 District 1 victory over Kamiak Feb. 18.

“We had to calm down a couple times because we got pretty frustrated,” said senior guard Quinn Kesselring about the close score. “It was intense.”

Heading into the final frame with just a 37-36 lead, Arlington relied on senior leadership to carry through, and it did. Seniors Kesselring, Ginny Wilson, Jessica Van Loo and Tiffany Daggett accounted for 18 of the Eagles’ final 20 points in a loser-out game that put them within a victory of reaching the state tournament.

“In the playoffs, it’s going to be close like that,” said Arlington coach Nathan Davis.

The lady Eagles earned the right to play Monroe Feb. 23 in a winner-to-state contest.

“It is nice to get to play another game,” said Kesselring, although that was in doubt all the way.

Arlington held an advantage throughout most of the game, but it wasn’t until 4:31 remaining in the game did that lead expand to six points. The Knights were able to keep the game close by overpowering the Eagles’ posts and playing a 1-2-2 zone.

“Their zone gave us a bit of trouble,” said Davis. “We weren’t finding each other out there real well and they were scrappy.”

While Wilson scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the first half, it wasn’t until Davis added Daggett in the paint that Arlington began to have an advantage.

“Daggett played a huge game as a senior,” Davis said. “She played like she wanted to finish.”

Arlington got a bit of luck in the fourth quarter, as Kamiak had to reign in its zone and physicality due to foul trouble. The Knights were in the penalty with seven minutes remaining.

“That really helped because we hit a lot of free throws and our posts got a lot of layins,” Kesselring said.

Arlington shot 13 free throws in the fourth quarter, making 10 of them.

Defensively, the Eagles threw three different zones at Kamiak to slow them down.

Kesselring added 15 points for the Eagles and Megan Abdo had nine.

Contact Arlington Times Sports Reporter Travis Sherer at tsherer@marysvilleglobe.com or 360 659-1300 Ext. 5054.

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