YAKIMA — With a hole in its starting lineup entering the season, someone needed to step up for the Port Angeles girls basketball team if the Roughriders wanted to return to the Class 2A state tournament for the third straight year.
Multiple someones have raised their games this season — Millie Long’s passing, scoring and defense have improved, Eve Burke’s become a go-to scorer and Jaida Wood’s persistent effort and leadership shines every time out on the court.
But it’s a lesser heralded reserve from last season, Bailee Larson, that has seen her game and contributions grow as a sophomore.
As a freshman, Larson saw the floor, but much of her court time came when Long went down with a broken finger about 3/4s of the way through the 2018-19 regular season.
This year, the 5-foot-8 Larson teams with the 5-foot-7 Long in Port Angeles’ backcourt, and also has seen time as a wing.
“She’s really valuable for us,” Riders coach Michael Poindexter said. “She’s not always among our top two scorers but she can score. And she’s second on the team in assists behind Millie and rebounds well for her size and defends well. There’s not much that she can’t do out there.”
At state so far, Larson has struggled with her shot, but helped the team out in a number of ways.
She led the team with 10 rebounds and five assists in Wednesday’s 68-54 win over No. 11 Clarkston and had eight points and six boards in a tough 50-45 quarterfinal loss to No. 5 Burlington-Edison.
“I continue to be impressed with the rebounding from our guards,” Poindexter said Thursday. “I think we have the best group of rebounding guards in the state.”
Poindexter previously seized on a key point that helps explain why Larson has made a leap in her play this season.
“She plays with Millie a little more this year than she did last year and that’s really helped her.”
Long is Port Angeles’ junior point guard who’s best quality may be her ability to make those around her better. She quickly agreed when asked what she enjoys about teaming with Larson.
“I love playing defense with Bailee,” Long said.
“She’s super good at reading where the ball is going to be. She can jump those [passes] and get steals or she gets the offensive player frustrated and they throw the ball and I’m able to get steals that way. Our teamwork is really strong at the top.”
Larson said the pairing meshes well together.
“The top of our zone is really good this year,” Larson said. “Millie and I are a very good match together. It’s pretty hard to get past us because our arms are long and we are athletic.”
Poindexter said Larson’s contribution is hard to describe in words, but readily apparent when it’s missing.
“It’s hard to define what she provides, but maybe a spark in terms of attitude,” Poindexter said. “A feistiness in a really good way. We didn’t have her at North Mason, she was ill, and that was the one Olympic League game we almost dropped. North Mason played really well but we were missing that something that Bailee gives us.”
Larson said her confidence has grown as she has worked on her shot and her passing skills on offense.
“My shot is a lot better this year and seeing open people down low is what I’m good at,” Larson said.
“I was not very confident at the start of this year and all last year. I would never really drive or shoot and this year I think I’ve grown a lot.”
And there’s no reason to believe she won’t continue to grow as an upperclassmen.
“I think her defense and her rebounding and her assisting sparks her game and her scoring will continue to increase [going forward],” Poindexter said.
“If teams don’t pay attention to her, it will be layin, layin, backdoor cut. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see her go off for 12 or 14 points per game.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
