UPDATE: West Seattle HS girls finish #6 in state after losing final tournament game by just 1 point

(UPDATED SATURDAY NIGHT with photos)

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
SATURDAY NIGHT TOPLINE: The West Seattle High School girls left the Tacoma Dome this morning with the trophy for finishing #6 in state, after a 41-40 loss to Arlington. Below, we’ve added more photos and notes to our as-it-happened report from courtside:

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(Video: WSHS pep band with pregame fight song)
8:00 AM: We are back at the Tacoma Dome one last time this morning as the West Seattle High School Wildcats cap off a great season with one last game, tipping off seconds ago to play Arlington for fourth place. We’ll post periodic updates as the game proceeds.

(WSHS’s Emily Fiso)
8:06 AM: After an Emily Fiso three-pointer, it’s 7-5, WSHS in the lead, midway through the first quarter.

8:13 AM: First quarter over – WSHS is leading 14-13.

8:21 AM: Almost midway through the second quarter, Arlington is ahead 18-14.

(WSHS’s Lani Taylor in the foreground, Lexi Ioane in the background)
8:32 AM: And it’s halftime, with WSHS leading 21-18. The bands and cheer squads perform briefly during the 10-minute halftimes; WSHS’s band is playing Adele’s “We Could Have Had It All,” while the Arlington cheer squad stands by on the court waiting for its turn. (2 minutes later) Halftime scoring sheets are in. Fiso accounts for 11 of WSHS’s 21 points, including three 3-pointers.

(WSHS’s Ioane, Charli Elliott, Lydia Giomi)
Rebounds are an even match – 16 for the Wildcats, 17 for the Eagles.

8:51 AM: 3 minutes left in the third quarter, and WSHS retains the lead, 25-21.

8:58 AM: This is it – last quarter of the last game of the season for WSHS, win or lose. They’re going into the fourth quarter ahead 26-24.

(WSHS’s Annalisa Ursino)
9:10 AM: Less than 3 minutes to go and it’s 38 Arlington, 33 West Seattle. The Eagles have been more prolific with the three-pointers.

(Head coach Sonya Elliott talks to her team during the final time out)
9:24 AM: All over. They got to within one – and time ran out.

(Instagram video of the last WSHS basket, scored by Giomi)
Final score, Arlington 41, West Seattle 40. They finish as #6 at state. WSHS band is playing the fight song as the girls leave the court.

9:31 AM: Final stats – Fiso top scorer for WSHS with 16, then Lydia Giomi with 12, Lexi Ioane with 8. Top in rebounds: Giomi 13, Charli Elliott 9.

EVENING POSTGAME NOTES: The Wildcats were the dominant rebounders for most of the game (41 total, six more than Arlington) but conversion was a challenge, making 26 percent of their field-goal attempts; they were cooler from the foul line today than during their Friday victory, 40 percent. The WSHS defense was ferocious and forced outside shots, but as seemed to be too often the case during the postseason, their opponents had more than one good outside shooter, and so they got around the blocked interior – Arlington and WSHS had almost-identical success rates on the threes, 37 percent for the Eagles and 36 percent for the Wildcats, but the difference was in the number of attempts – 24 by Arlington, 11 by West Seattle.

WHAT’S NEXT: The squad that went to state includes four seniors (Elliott, Fiso, Ursino, and Rachel Devore), so this was their swan song. Returnees Giomi, Ioane, Taylor, and healing-from-an-injury Gabby Sarver are juniors; Izzy Turk‘s a sophomore; Kathryn Anawalt, Rosa Grossi, and Rilcy Newsome are freshmen. Next season – which they will start as defending Metro League champions – is just nine months away.

11 Replies to "UPDATE: West Seattle HS girls finish #6 in state after losing final tournament game by just 1 point"

  • cil March 7, 2015 (9:47 am)

    Result?

    • WSB March 7, 2015 (10:01 am)

      C, it’s in the story, 9:24 am – 41-40 Arlington.

  • Parentof2 March 7, 2015 (9:57 am)

    Great season Ladies! Keep your heads up high!

  • Mookie March 7, 2015 (10:38 am)

    Gutsy playing, what a nailbiter game – congrats on the season, Wildcats!!

  • Cat March 7, 2015 (11:03 am)

    The team and coaches should be very proud of the games they played, the sportsmanship they have shown, and the fantastic way they represented our school and community. Way to go Westside!

  • stb March 7, 2015 (11:10 am)

    Great season! I hope they had a blast at the big dance.

  • Mr.Ketler March 7, 2015 (1:30 pm)

    We are very proud of our West Side girls basket ball. Great year.

  • Paula Tortorice March 7, 2015 (4:18 pm)

    Congrats to a fabulous team and for a terrific season! So, so proud of you all!!

  • CoachI March 7, 2015 (7:10 pm)

    As your coach, it has been the greatest honor and privilege to experience this with you!! I am so proud of each and everyone of you!! Thank you for allowing me along for the ride!! I love you all!! Wash rinse repeat ladies we will repeat!

  • jeng March 8, 2015 (1:39 pm)

    Great season ladies! So fun! Thanks to the West Seattle Blog for it’s consistent coverage with lots of fun photos during this prolonged season. A huge thanks as well to the extended West Seattle community for all your support of this team, made it a truly memorable season.

  • sam-c March 9, 2015 (10:09 am)

    Congrats to the team on a great season! I am sure that was an exciting tournament.

    (Even though my eyes kind of glaze over when reading details about these games and I sorta scroll by, I’m really grateful that WSB provides such great coverage of local West Seattle teams- THANK YOU!)

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