Arlington girls basketball season ends

MARYSVILLE — The Lady Eagles finished just a game shy of the Class 4A state tournament.

With a 69-44 District 1 tournament loss to Edmonds-Woodway Feb. 26, Arlington had to go home.

The Warriors, who were the Wesco South title holders, made quick work of the Eagles, opening the game with a 20-6 run in the first quarter. The Eagles had difficulty with the Warriors’ starters who accounted for 95 percent of Edmonds’ points. Leading the Eagles was senior Quinn Kesselring with 10 points. The loss came after Arlington defeated Wesco North title holder 60-56, Feb. 23.

Arlington sophomore post reserve Kaiti Ferro was instrumental in the Lady Eagles’ 60-56 comeback victory against Monroe.

“It was all because of the team,” said Ferro, who scored all of her 11 points in the fourth quarter. “Our guards had some great passes and we knew we had to come back to keep playing.”

The Eagles fought back from a 33-22 halftime deficit to secure their first state berth since 2001.

“Our speech at halftime was to get strong,” said Eagles coach Nathan Davis, whose girls saw Monroe score seven consecutive points in the final 40 seconds of the first half. “They were pretty down, but once we made our adjustments and talked about it, they were ready to get back out there.”

Arlington went on an 11-3 run to open the second half and bring the score to 36-33, but fought with Monroe to keep it close. It wasn’t until there was five minutes remaining in the game when Ferro grabbed her third offensive rebound and scored her third consecutive bucket in less than 60 seconds that the Lady Eagles earned their first lead since the score was 2-0.

Ferro and Ginny Wilson were vital to the Arlington comeback, as the Eagles slowed down the tempo and force the Bearcats to work out of an offensive set.

“That was the game plan,” Davis said. “They didn’t know what to do when they couldn’t run.”

With the tempo slowed, Monroe wasn’t able to exploit its speed advantage, which came in the form of junior guard Suzanna Ohlsen, who scored 22 points.

“She is a great player, but Jessica Van Loo did a really nice job staying in front of her,” Davis said.

With Monroe throwing up wild shots or making errant passes, Arlington took advantage with a 15-3 run in the fourth quarter to own a 56-50 advantage.

Leading the Lady Eagles in scoring was Wilson with 17 points. Guards Kesselring and Van Loo added 10 a piece.

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

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.