Class 4A girls tournament: Garfield grabs Central Valley matchup

TACOMA — The sassy Bulldogs against the seasoned Bears.

Garfield will put its youthful exuberance against Central Valley's unyielding experience tonight when the two meet in the semifinals of the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

It's the new kids on the block against the grand dames of the court. No. 9 Garfield (21-5) is back in the semifinals for the first time since winning it all in 1987. No. 1 Central Valley (26-1) is the two-time defending champion and has won 10 consecutive tournament games.

These Bulldogs know they're big underdogs in tonight's 8:30 semifinal, and hope to use it to their advantage.

"We have nothing to lose," sophomore guard Malia O'Neal said. "There's no pressure on us. All the pressure's on them. They're the two-time defending champions."

The unbeaten Redmond Mustangs (25-0) insist they're not feeling any pressure to advance through the tournament, although they were pushed for the second straight night. After surviving an overtime scare from unranked Puyallup on Wednesday, they trailed No. 6 Enumclaw off and on last night until pulling away for a 53-48 victory to earn a spot in the 7 p.m. semifinal against No. 3 Prairie (26-2).

The bottom line is that Redmond still keeps winning, a stretch of 27 games that include the final two of last year's tournament.

"Even when our shots aren't falling and we're not getting every board, we still have faith we're going to get it done," senior Allison Klingerman said. "I don't think we ever get down on ourselves. We always feel we're going to win."

The Central Valley Bears feel they can win a third title and are eager to quiet critics who have whispered they're not good enough this year.

"Right now, we're going full-out," Central Valley senior Brittany Baynes said. "We're going to show them we can do it. We're ready to go."

Garfield got here by winning a defensive battle against Lake Stevens last night, 41-33. Players and coaches admit they liked their chances of reaching the semifinals when they first saw the draw. The Bulldogs were the only top-10 team in their quarterfinal bracket. Central Valley, on the other hand, had to beat No. 4 Kentlake and No. 6 Kennewick to advance.

"We thought we had a really good draw," O'Neal said. "We were really confident."

And being able to play Redmond tough three times this season gives them some confidence going into tonight's game.

"If we can stick with them, we can stick with anyone," O'Neal said.

Garfield Coach Joyce Walker hopes her players believe that.

"I don't know if they believe we can get it done or not," she said, "but we're going to lace them up (today) and see. The pressure sure isn't on us. We're going to come play and we're going to play hard. We have a tall order in Central Valley."

Central Valley's victory over Kennewick was far from easy. The Bears from Spokane blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter and had to go to overtime when Kennewick sensation Leilani Mitchell made a clutch three-pointer with five seconds left. Somehow, Central Valley always seems to find a way to win here. But Coach Dale Poffenroth isn't taking anything for granted.

"We're only halfway there," he said.

The Prairie Falcons are where they seem to be every year. This marks the suburban Vancouver team's sixth consecutive semifinal appearance, and they've had some success once they've gotten here, going 4-1 the past five years.

"We've played some of our best basketball in semifinal games," Coach Al Aldridge said.

The Falcons beat Kentlake in last year's semis, then lost to Central Valley by 18 in the championship game. They'd love a rematch on Saturday, but don't expect an easy time of it tonight.

"It's going to be a war," Aldridge said.

Sandy Ringer: sringer@seattletimes.com

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