Girls 2A tournament: No. 3 East Valley wins in OT

YAKIMA — Angie Ibach scored 15 points, including a three-pointer to put third-ranked East Valley ahead to stay, as the Yakima school rallied to beat fifth-ranked Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls 50-47 in overtime last night in the Class 2A girls state basketball tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Jami Sharp's driving layup with three seconds remaining in regulation forged a 45-45 tie. The East Valley player was fouled but missed a free throw that would have averted overtime.

Ibach's three-pointer with 3:36 to play in overtime gave the Red Devils (23-2) the lead for good. Lakeside's Jessi Reome missed a three-point attempt with eight seconds to go and East Valley ran out the clock.

Reome had 20 points and Megan Griner 14 for Lakeside (19-4).

It was the third straight year the teams met at state. In 2001 and 2002, the victor went on to win the tournament.

Tonight, the Red Devils (23-2) will play sixth-ranked Tenino (21-3) in a quarterfinal game at 7:30 p.m.

Lakeside (19-4) plays Granite Falls (15-10) in a loser-out game today at 12:30 p.m.

Other games

La Center 69, Ephrata 37 — Tanya Baker scored 24 points as La Center (19-5) routed Ephrata (12-12). Baker made 9 of 13 shots, including 3 of 4 three-point attempts. She also had eight steals.

Sarah Davis added 15 points and Sunny Moore pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Jana Flannery led Ephrata with 14 points.

La Center shot 52.7 percent (29 of 55) from the field and outrebounded the Tigers 40-28.

Pullman 41, Woodland 33 — Uma Peterson scored eight points to lead seventh-ranked Pullman (19-5) past previously unbeaten and fourth-ranked Woodland (23-1).

Woodland, which lost standout Ashley Rodman to a season-ending knee injury last month, suffered from a dismal 19.6 percent shooting effort (10-of-51). The Beavers made just 3 of 23 shots (13 percent) in the first half.

Tara Ward and Bree Cochran led Woodland with eight points each. Teammate Brittany Driver had a game-high 20 rebounds as the Beavers outboarded Pullman 55-41.

Connell 54, Eatonville 33 — Lauryn Koelzer scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting to lead 10th-ranked Connell (19-6) past ninth-ranked Eatonville (24-3).

Lisa Muhlbeier added 13 points, and Korrine Knight pulled down 11 rebounds for the Eagles, whose defense came up with nine steals and helped force Eatonville into 22 turnovers.

The Cruisers suffered from a 21.6 percent (11-of-51) shooting performance, including making just 4 of 21 shots in the first half.

Tara Foust led Eatonville with 10 points. Anne Nelson had seven rebounds.

Nooksack Valley 42, Riverside 35 — Devin Dykstra scored 13 points, and Nooksack Valley (17-6) used an 18-0 run over the middle two quarters to beat eighth-ranked Riverside (18-7). Dykstra also had a game-high nine rebounds for the Pioneers.

Trailing 15-6 after the first quarter, Nooksack Valley outscored Riverside 28-6 over the second and third periods. The Pioneers tied the game at 18-18 at the half on a jumper by Annette Handy and took their first lead on a layup by Nichole Jensen that made it 20-18 with 6:56 to play in the third. Riverside never reclaimed the lead.

Tenino 55, Granite Falls 45 — Whitney Evander scored 24 points as sixth-ranked Tenino (21-3) beat Granite Falls (15-10). Nikki Johnson added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Tenino.

Rebecca Kirchgessner and Nichole Megard each scored 11 points to lead the Tigers, who committed 33 turnovers.

Blaine 44, Hoquiam 43 — Jessica Summers made a 12-jumper with one second remaining as top-ranked Blaine (23-0) rallied for a victory over Hoquiam (17-7). Summers scored 22 points, with 14 in the second half.

Blaine led most of the way until Hoquiam took two late leads, the last at 43-42 on Erica Tomlin's basket with 2:03 remaining. Each team missed a shot before Summers' game-winner.

Sheila Robertson added 10 points for the Borderites. Summers also had 14 rebounds.

Molly Maxfield led Hoquiam with 15 points while Keri Strom had eight rebounds.