The Lynnwood girls basketball team has been preparing for the state tournament since December, when the Royals competed at the Nike Interstate Shootout in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Lynnwood played four games in four days, with the main goal to get the experience of playing four unknown teams in as many days. Royals head coach Everett Edwards said he had Tacoma in mind when scheduling the tournament, which featured some of the top teams in Oregon.
Lynnwood went 4-0 at the tournament, defeating Jesuit, Glencoe, West Linn and South Salem, becoming the first team from Washington to win since 1995.
“The trip to Oregon, where we played four games in a row back-to-back-to-back-to-back, will help us,” Edwards said. “It’ll show us how to game plan with the short turnaround. You have to go through some film and make whatever adjustments you have to make.”
The Royals picked up right where they left off last year, when they placed third at the 4A state tourney — the highest finish in program history. Lynnwood moved to 3A for the 2014-15 school year, but the Royals had little difficulty adjusting to the Wesco 3A South.
Lynnwood, which has defeated opponents by an average of 30 points this season, had two hiccups: a 55-43 loss to Todd Beamer at the King Showcase on Jan. 19, and a 61-49 defeat at the hands of league rival Glacier Peak on Feb. 6. Both times, Edwards said the losses could benefit the Royals.
“I truly believe that this loss could be the best thing that could happen to us at this point in the season,” Edwards said after the loss to Todd Beamer. “This is the first loss that this group has had, starting from the summer. … We love to play good teams. It’s really easy to schedule easy games and to try not to face adversity but we schedule tough. This game, it might not show now, but hopefully in a few weeks as we prepare for our district tournament, we’re going to face some other adversity and we can draw on our experience here.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.