(UPDATED 11:25 PM with word of WSHS’s next opponent)

(WSHS’s Lani Taylor at left)

Photos by Patrick Sand
Story by Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog co-publishers

One week after beating last year’s state champion Cleveland in the Metro League title game, the West Seattle High School girls couldn’t quite repeat the feat. This afternoon’s final score in the district-third-place game at Bellevue College was Eagles 57, Wildcats 54.

Despite two consecutive losses, WSHS gets one more chance to advance, and will find out later this weekend who they’ll play next.

Like the last West Seattle-Cleveland faceoff February 13th, this one was close throughout. WSHS’s 9-2 lead midway through the first quarter was the biggest lead either team ever opened, and it didn’t last long. Cleveland took the lead for the first time, 13-12, with the first of Giavanni Flowers‘s five 3-pointers, just before the end-of-quarter buzzer.

Though the Eagles threw everything they had at the Wildcats’ Lydia Giomi (above), double- and triple-teaming her most of the times she got close to the basket, Giomi still led WSHS scoring with 20 points.

The Wildcats’ defense worked hard to keep Cleveland from getting too far in too often, but with more than half their 57 points coming on 3-pointers, the Eagles were able to work past that strategy.

As the second quarter began, Lexi Ioane (above) got the lead back for West Seattle. A bit of seesawing ensued, and every possession was hard-won – one struggle even led to a jump ball (with the “alternate possession” rule, WSHS won that one). The Wildcats had the edge on rebounds and steals, but the Eagles’ defense kept them from getting many clear shots.

Cleveland’s Joyce Harrell was hurt with three minutes to go in the first half. WSHS got the lead back shortly thereafter, on a three-pointer by Izzy Turk (below).

A minute later, West Seattle was up by four. But by the end of the half, two 3-pointers by Cleveland led to a 24-22 lead as the teams headed for the locker rooms.

Starting the second half, the Eagles picked right up where they left off, with another 3. WSHS answered with a layup by Ioane (WSHS’s third-leading scorer today with 10). Fans on both sides stepped up the shouts – from the Wildcats’ cheerleaders, DEFENSE! DEFENSE! – and the battle raged on.

WSHS took the lead back with a basket by Charli Elliott (above), who took a painful spill a moment later; pulled up by her teammates, she stayed in, and carried on. They extended the lead to 35-30 with three minutes to go in the third quarter, but Cleveland’s subsequent five unanswered points brought that to a tie, and the quarter ended 40-39 Cleveland.

The final quarter wasn’t any less intense than the first three. Nobody broke away. The score was tied 49-49 with 3:15 to go after a dramatic series of plays.

Annalisa Ursino (above) brought the ball upcourt, got it to Ioane, who passed it to Emily Fiso (below), who shot and missed, got the rebound, shot and missed again, got the rebound, finally a basket for the tie.

That could have been a turning point – but Cleveland fired off a fast three pointer. A bucket from Fiso (the Wildcats’ #2 scorer today with 13) made up two of the points. After Cleveland missed two foul shots, a Giomi basket put the Wildcats up by one, 53-52 … but they were outscored 5 to 1 in the remaining minutes, and that was the difference; they had the ball with five seconds to go, and got it to Fiso for an outside shot, bringing the WSHS fans to their feet – but it was off the mark, and so the game ended, 57-54.

The two losses today and Thursday (to Juanita, 51-48) were the first since the only two that WSHS had experienced all season, and both of those were in the MaxPreps holiday tournament in California. Now head coach Sonya Elliott‘s squad has six days to rest until one more chance to keep the postseason going; we should know soon who they’ll be playing and where/when, and we’ll add that here when we know.

11:25 PM: According to our partners at The Seattle Times, WSHS will next play Sumner, which lost its district-title game today; here’s a look at Sumner’s roster. (The official brackets will be filled out here on Sunday.)

In the Tri-Districts high-school basketball tournament tonight in Mount Vernon, a win for the Seattle Lutheran High School boys, 63-52 over Tulalip Heritage. That means the Saints play there again tomorrow, this time for third place, 4:15 pm Saturday vs. Shorewood Christian.

Also in district basketball postseason play tonight, the Seattle Lutheran High School boys lost to Lummi Nation, 62-48 in Mount Vernon. They play again there tomorrow, facing Tulalip Heritage at 6:30 pm.

(WSB photo: Foreground, WSHS & Juanita’s leading scorers, Emily Fiso and Tea Adams; background at right, Charli Elliott)
7:58 PM: So close – but not close enough. In a game that just ended at Bellevue College, the West Seattle High School girls fell just short against Juanita, which got the district semi-final win, 51-48. The Wildcats were down by as much as 13 but fought back in the second half, falling just three points short. They play next for district third place, 1:15 pm Saturday vs. Cleveland, also at Bellevue College.

ADDED 1:12 AM: Here’s how Thursday night’s game played out:

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(WSB photos by Patrick Sand; above, WSHS’s Emily Fiso)
9:59 PM: The West Seattle High School girls have won again. In a district-tournament basketball game at the Chief Sealth International High School gym, the Wildcats beat Bishop Blanchet, 55-45. Photos and more to come.

PHOTOS ADDED 12:42 AM: Though Blanchet got out to a fast start, WSHS regrouped after a timeout.

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(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
9:47 PM: At home tonight, another postseason basketball win for the Seattle Lutheran High School boys – 65-52 over Providence Classical Christian. Photos and more to come.

PHOTOS ADDED, 11:52 PM: Junior Xavier Turner led the Saints’ scoring with 23 points, including the late-game dunk below:

Roberto Duenaz was next with 13, followed by Isaiah Dowding-Albrecht and Josh Meyer (below) with 12 each.

Head coach Brett Kapels and the SLHS boys next face Lummi Nation, 8:15 pm Thursday at Mount Vernon Christian.

(L-R, Coach Buiford, Coach Daven, Gonzalo Guzman, Ryan Davis, Coach D, Daron Camacho, Coach LT; photo by Lynn Ogdon-Perrine)
Thanks to Lynn Ogdon-Perrine for an update on Chief Sealth International High School wrestlers who are headed into state competition:

In the big regional competition at Sealth on Saturday, Daron Camacho won first in his weight class and has been named Metro League Wrestler of the Year. Lynn adds that Antonio Childs placed 3rd in regionals in his weight class, and that Ryan Davis is first alternate in his weight class and Gonzalo Guzman is second alternate for state in his weight class.

Meantime, after girls’ regionals on Saturday in Bellingham, Sealth’s Makayla Dorn is also going to state:

(Makayla Dorn; photo by Brad Kelln)
She placed third. State competition is next Friday and Saturday at the Tacoma Dome.

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
9:24 PM SATURDAY: We’re at Eastside Catholic, where the West Seattle High School boys’ basketball season just ended with a 79-56 loss in a loser-out district playoff game. Photos and summary later.

ADDED SUNDAY MORNING: For one, sophomore star Nate Pryor (#1, above) took a while to get up to speed:

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(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
School’s out until Wednesday for Seattle Public Schools, and dozens of students at Roxhill Elementary went home with fun memories from their last PE class before the break. PE teacher Chellie LaFayette brought in University of Washington soccer players to meet and work with her afternoon classes.

The visitors, left to right with Roxhill’s “Buddy Bench” (made famous by another distinguished visitor) and Ms. Lafayette below, were Amanda, Kate, Kat, Paige, and Madi:

You can find out more about them on the UW’s roster page. They talked with students about what it takes to get into college as well as about playing sports.

(REPORT #1 with postgame-celebration video is here)

(League MVP Lydia Giomi)

Story by Tracy Record
Photos by Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers

It was the kind of game that left spectators as breathless as the players whose battle they had just witnessed.

The Metro League girls-basketball title game won by West Seattle High School over Cleveland was as close throughout as the 49-48 final score implied.

Playing at the Seattle Pacific University gym in north Queen Anne, Cleveland led for much of the game but never threatened to run away with it. WSHS opened its biggest lead toward the game’s end but Cleveland – last year’s state champion – fought back to within one and had the ball when time ran out. The defense was intense from start to finish, and that led to more than a few foul shots for both sides – 13 of the Wildcats’ 49 points came from the free-throw line.

West Seattle’s first scoring came on a 3-pointer by senior Annalisa Ursino about a third of the way through the first quarter, and that tied the score 3-3. Cleveland answered with one of its own to restore its three-point lead. And so it went. WSHS’s first lead came with just over 2 minutes to go in the first quarter, 9-8 after a basket by senior Emily Fiso (above), the Wildcats’ #2 scorer of the night with 12 points in all.

That was the only time WSHS led during the first half.

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(Video of game-ending celebration, close-up YouTube version substituted for previously published Instagram clip)
7:15 PM: A nailbiter game has just ended at Seattle Pacific University with the West Seattle High School girls winning the Metro League title in a memorable basketball battle – 49-48 over last year’s state champs, Cleveland. Their first game in districts is Tuesday night at Sealth – time/opponent TBA. Photos and more, to come.

9:51 PM: We’ll tell the story of the game in a separate report that we’re working on right now. But in the meantime, here are the champs right after the game:

Postgame celebrations also included each player taking a turn cutting part of the net – and then finally one more loop for head coach Sonya Elliott:

A ceremony before the game honored her as Metro League Coach of the Year as well as all-league players including, from the Wildcats, league MVP Lydia Giomi and all-league team members Lexi Ioane and Emily Fiso.

6 AM: Our second report with photos and full details is here.

From the postseason-basketball scoreboard: West Seattle High School‘s boys-varsity team beat Bainbridge tonight, 67-62, led by Nate Pryor with 28 points. Head coach Keffrey Fazio‘s Wildcat boys play at Eastside Catholic, (update) 8 pm Saturday … Seattle Lutheran High School‘s girls won against Muckleshoot Tribal School, 46-40, led by Abbi Sanders with 24 points; we’re checking to see what’s next for the Saints.

(Photos by Steph Brusig for WSB)
The West Seattle High School girls-varsity basketball team moves on to the Metro League championship game after a hard-fought win Wednesday night, 53-39 over Holy Names. Lexi Ioane led the scoring with 20 points:

But this wasn’t just about the numbers:

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Quick updates on tonight’s West Seattle High School basketball playoff games:

GIRLS WIN: The Wildcat women beat Holy Names 53-39 at Nathan Hale, per the update just in from Seattle Times (WSB partner) sports reporter Sandy Ringer. The game was close until the fourth quarter, when, she reports, Holy Names failed to score. Photographer Steph Brusig was at the game for WSB and we’ll have another report later with photos. (Update: Here’s that link.)

BOYS LOSE BUT STILL IN IT: Earlier, the WSHS boys lost to Lakeside, 68-50, but they are still in it, with a game at 5:45 pm tomorrow vs. Bainbridge, loser out, winner to districts. That game will be played at Garfield HS.

The high-school-basketball postseason is on. Chief Sealth International High School‘s boys-varsity team played a loser-out game against Ingraham tonight – a team they had handily defeated in the regular season, and beat again tonight, 74-49. L.J. Burns led Sealth scoring with 18 points, followed by Hafid Yassin with 15. Tomorrow night, coach Colin Slingsby‘s Seahawk boys play at Lakeside, 7 pm.

The big local sports story over the weekend was the West Seattle High School girls-varsity basketball team ending the regular season with a perfect record in their conference and head coach Sonya Elliott being named Metro League coach of the year for the second time in three years (WSB coverage here). Coach Elliott says their first playoff game is Wednesday night (February 11), 7:30 pm at Nathan Hale HS, against the winner of tonight’s Holy Names/Ballard game. P.S. Our partners at The Seattle Times have published the full Metro brackets for girls and boys.

ADDED: The Times’ latest rankings have WSHS at #2 statewide for girls’ 3A.

Thanks to Lynn Ogdon-Perrine for sharing news of Chief Sealth International High School‘s boys-wrestling results at the Metro League tournament, plus word of CSIHS hosting a big subregional tournament next Saturday:

Results from boys’s Metros are in. The following boys will be representing Sealth at Sub-Regionals on 2/14 :

(Photo by Brad Kelln)
*Daron Camacho (photo above) placed first

*Antonio Childs placed third

*Frank Brown placed fourth

*Ryan Davis and Heriberto DeLuna both placed seventh in their weight class

*Gonzalo Guzman, Anthony Mallard, and Tommy Bui are alternates

On February 14th, Sealth is hosting Sub-Regionals for boys. 18 teams will be at Sealth to compete for the opportunity to go to state. Come watch great wrestling! Sealth Parking lot will be closed off and filled with food trucks including Extreme Thai. Come on by!

CSIHS is at 2600 SW Thistle.

The West Seattle High School boys’ varsity basketball team is looking ahead to a postseason game against O’Dea next Tuesday, they announced the day after a hard-fought loss to Franklin.

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(WSB photos/video by Tracy Record)
Standing at right above, that’s West Seattle High School girls-varsity head coach Sonya Elliott, who has been honored as Metro League Coach of the Year for the second time in three years, according to the school’s announcement on Twitter. Another tweet says junior Lydia Giomi has been named league MVP. Our top photo is from right after the team ended the first stage of a stellar season with a 62-20 victory last night over the visiting Franklin Quakers. In case you haven’t seen the Wildcat women play yet this year, here’s a minute we caught on video:

As the final home game of the regular season, last night was also Senior Night:

An especially poignant Senior Night for Coach Elliott, whose departing senior mainstays include her daughter Charli Elliott:

Also honored, Emily Fiso …

Annalisa Ursino …

Rachel Devore …

And Kristine La:

On to the game.

Fiso scored the first five points and finished as the scoring leader with 18.

Lexi Ioane was next with 15.

P.S. The cheer squad’s seniors were honored too – including the new Miss Seattle, Taryn Smith, who sang the national anthem before each game:

We’re now waiting to hear when/where the girls will start postseason play.