MUKLILTEO — The Kamiak girls basketball team edged Jackson twice in the regular season.
The third time was the charm for the Timberwolves, who got a little payback in their postseason opener.
Jackson used a big second-quarter run to seize momentum and carried it into the second half as the Timberwolves defeated Kamiak 55-46 in both teams’ 4A District 1 opener Thursday night at Kamiak High School.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times,” said Jackson head coach Mark Haner. “Both games we had previously were good, well-contested games and this was another one. It was close the entire way. The three games all kind of mirrored each other, it’s just this time we managed to get the upper hand in the second half and didn’t give it up.”
Jackson (9-12 overall), the No. 5 seed in the tournament, will move on to face No. 1 Lake Stevens at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at Everett Community College. Kamiak (No. 4) will take on the loser of Monroe-Snohomish at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at EvCC.
The Timberwolves outscored Kamiak 11-4 in the second quarter, tying the score at 24 right before halftime. Jackson picked up right where it left off in the third quarter, with the Timberwolves continuing to make 3-pointers, including three by junior Olivia Miller.
Kamiak, which trailed by as many as 10 in the final quarter, cut the deficit to three on a 3-pointer by Grace Hamill with 2:40 remaining in the contest, but the Jackson defense prevented the Knights from getting any closer as the Timberwolves pulled out the win.
“We held them to four in the second quarter and we were really fired up from that,” Haner said. “We just needed more of the same. We’d been defending really well and rebounding really well. … Once we settled in shots started falling and we got some stops and we were able to kind of piece it back together from there.”
Kamiak head coach Brian Norman said the Knights were focused on trying to defend the perimeter against the Timberwolves, who made seven 3-pointers.
“We didn’t quite execute the way we wanted to defensively,” Norman said. “We know they’re a good-shooting team. They did shoot the lights out tonight. The gameplan was to contest every 3-point shot and we didn’t do that. That was kind of our downfall. … There’s ebbs and flows in the game, and when it’s flowing it’s good, when it’s ebbing you’ve got to stop it somehow.”
Miller led the way for Jackson with 14 points, eight rebounds and five steals. Imari Clinton and Drew Locknane each scored 11 points apiece, with Clinton adding eight rebounds.
“I never know which one of these girls is going to come through but I have a lot of faith in all of them,” Haner said. “(Miller) stepped up and hit some really big shots. That’s a great group right there. Everybody stepped up and did exactly what they needed to do.”
Emily Pillman led the way for Kamiak (13-8) with 14 points and seven rebounds. The Knights also got nine points and eight boards from junior Tylor Adcock.
“They’re a really scrappy, young team. They have some really good players out there,” Haner said. “They really fight hard and they’re really consistent. … That’s their entire mentality: they’re going to attack you.”
Norman is confident the Knights can bounce back in their next district contest, which will be a loser-out game.
“We’re going to regroup tomorrow — we’re not out of this yet,” Norman said. “We’re going to hopefully make some noise the rest of the way. We’re pretty confident we can get back into it.”
Jackson played Lake Stevens twice in the regular season as well, losing by one point in the first matchup and 39 in the second. The Timberwolves are excited for a third try with Lake Stevens in the district semifinals.
“We had two very different games against them in the regular season — one was pretty good, one not so good — and they’re playing really good basketball right now,” Haner said. “We have to be prepared for them. They’re the No. 1 seed for a reason.”
At Kamiak H.S.
Jackson 13 11 20 11 —55
Kamiak 20 4 14 8 —46
Jackson—Emily Boyd 0, Mackenzie Conrad 9, Imari Clinton 13, Drew Locknane 11, Kassaundra Jackson 0, Olivia Miller 14, Emily Brown 0, Jadyn Edwards 10. Kamiak—Grace Hamill 3, Alexie Morris 7, Sarah Payne 7, Tylor Adcock 9, Jenny Stoltz 4, Jamie Beirne 3, Emily Pillman 13, Aliea Marrero 0. 3-point goals—Miller 3, Clinton 3, Locknane 1, Edwards 1, Hamill 1, Morris 1, Payne 1, Pillman 1. Records—Jackson 9-12 overall. Kamiak 13-8.
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