YAKIMA — A physical Prosser squad raced past Port Angeles in the fourth quarter, turning a five-point game into a 61-40 foul-plagued defeat Wednesday morning in the Class 2A state girls basketball tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
The Roughriders pulled to within 43-38 and had three shots at the foul line with 5:59 to play, but senior Eve Burke fouled out and Prosser closed out the game on an 18-2 run.
“At that point, we felt great,” coach Michael Poindexter said. “And I just think, well what happened was Eve fouling out changed a lot for us.
“We had to go man-to-man [defensively], our least desirable option and one we didn’t want to run at all because we did not match up well with them and you saw what happened. It just complicated things and changed everything about strategy.”
The loss ends the season for the Olympic League co-champs and District 2/3 Champions with a record of 17-6.
The scrambling started early for Port Angeles.
Two first-quarter fouls sent senior point guard Bailee Larson to the bench. Another two whistles tagged leading scorer and rebounder Eve Burke with two fouls and a minute later a third foul call on Burke forced her to the bench.
Towards the end of the first half, Anna Petty was saddled with a pair of quick fouls as the Mustangs erased Port Angeles’ early 12-7 lead and went into halftime with a 27-25 lead on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Leila Taylor.
The team’s three top scorers and playmakers all headed in to the locker room with multiple foul calls at the same time, limiting their presence on the floor, not to mention their aggressiveness and effectiveness while on it, not the formula for success at the state tournament.
“The foul trouble was brutal for us,” coach Michael Poindexter said.
“We were in constant patch-and-repair mode. Those three are so huge for us, Eve, Bailee and Anna make us go. When we don’t have all three on the floor for long periods or even one of them on the floor we struggle.”
Port Angeles was still in it at half, despite allowing 6-foot Idaho State-signee Halle Wright to hit for 16 first-half points.
“We knew they were going to score against us, Halle Wright is really talented, but we were rebounding OK in it [1-3-1 zone defense]. It was turnovers and the foul trouble that hurt us in the first half.”
The Riders kept pace in the first few minutes of the second half, but Burke’s fourth foul with 4:54 to play led to a scoring drought of more than five minutes stretching into the fourth quarter.
Larson hit a couple of buckets to make a dent in Prosser’s lead, but the Riders’ couldn’t make up the deficit.
Burke led Port Angeles with 14 points while playing just 16 minutes, while Larson scored 12 with six rebounds in their final games as Riders.
Poindexter said his team was ready to play and didn’t suffer the same nerves as in previous postseason contests.
“We looked way more like our normal selves, there were no jitters like we had in the White River game,” Poindexter said.
“I’m really pleased with the kids’ efforts, their attitudes. The senior group has been incredible, and words fail to describe their qualities.”
Burke exits with more than 1,200 career points, the most since Port Angeles’ all-time leading scorer Jessica Madison (1,989), along with multi-year varsity players Larson, Jayde Gedelman, Jenna McGoff and Angelina Sprague.
Postseason rougher
Port Angeles doesn’t face too many teams that provide Prosser’s level of physicality during the regular season, but the postseason is a different story.
State defeats have come at the hands of bigger, stronger squads in previous seasons suchs as East Valley [Yakima and Spokane] and Archbishop Murphy.
“In the postseason, and I apologized to the kids just in general, that looks so different from the regular season in terms of the physicality. And we are just not built that way. When games don’t get that physical, we function great. But when they do, we struggle.”
Port Angeles also had to deal with a number of injuries in the game.
“To get so many kids beat up, ” Poindexter said. “Bailee had a bloody nose, Anna hurt her hand and Lexie [Smith] and her knee.”
Smith, the Riders’ 5-foot-11 post, injured her right knee late in the contest and was on crutches after the contest.
Smith had played well in the game, with eight rebounds and two blocked shots on Wright inside.
“She had such a good freshman year,” Poindexter said. “She played like she belonged and that’s sad.”
As for the future, Poindexter said his squad retains some experience, but will have huge shoes to fill.
“We do have a good amount of players who will be back with varsity experience, but we will have to find some other scoring options. Anna stepped up this season, but she will need help.”
No. 11 Prosser 61, No. 6 Port Angeles 40
P 12 15 14 20 — 61
PA 14 11 7 7 — 40
Prosser (61): Wright 22, Dixon 12, Cortes 12, Taylor 8, Maljaars 4, Milanez 3, Blair, Ibarra.
Port Angeles (40): Burke 14, Larson 12, Gedelman 5, Petty 4, Williams 3, Smith 2, McGoff, Mason, Felton, Sprague.
