issaquahpress021313

SPORTS WednesdayFebruary 13, 2013B4

THE ISSAQUAH PRESSTHE ISSAQUAH PRESSTHE ISSAQUAH PRESS

B4

By Lillian O’[email protected]

The postseason started with a bang for the Skyline High School girls basket-ball team Feb. 6 when it blasted Bothell, 76-44, in the first round of the KingCo 4A Championships.

Seeded No. 1 in the Crown division, the Sky-line Spartans came out with a strong defense. Senior guards Rachel Shim and Lacey Nichol-son were glued to two of the Bothell Cougars top scorers, Randi Dixon and Erin Burns, and together with their teammates held the Cougars’ offense

to only two points during regular play in the first quarter.

“My mentality going into every game is pretty much putting it all into defense and then once I put it all into defense my offense eventually comes,” Shim said. “We’re a very defensive-minded team. We try to come out with that much aggressiveness every game.”

However, the Spar-tans’ eagerness to force a turnover or get a steal also put them into foul trouble, which allowed Bothell to score six free-throw points in the first quarter.

“We’ve done that in the past, where we get too

amped up for games, and we’re trying to get a steal out of every play,” Skyline

coach Greg Bruns said. “You don’t have to pres-sure so much that you’re

reaching and fouling and getting us in trouble. The main thing is to make it difficult for them.”

Skyline’s eager defense continued to force several turnovers in the second quarter, including a steal by sophomore Stella Mazzaf-erro. With four minutes left in the first half, Mazzaferro seized the ball and ran half the court before netting two to give Skyline a solid 10-point lead at 25-15.

The Spartans were ahead, 34-21, when they returned after halftime. They quickly expanded their lead with two con-secutive baskets, the first from Shelby Kassuba and the second from Haley

Smith. Ballard landed a 3-pointer to break up Skyline’s run, but Smith answered by netting two more buckets.

Running a more con-trolled defense, the Spar-tans still capitalized on turnovers. About halfway through the third quarter, Mazzaferro made another steal and quickly passed it to Smith, who then fired it to Nicholson. Open at the other end of the court, Nicholson netted the ball to finish the play. That started Skyline on a 14-0 run, which included four more points and a defen-

Spartans roar into postseason with 76-44 win over Bothell

See SPARTANS, Page B5

BY LILLIAN O’RORKE

Haley Smith, Skyline High School senior, drives the ball down the court during the Feb. 6 KingCo playoff game against Bothell.

Two Issaquah and four Liberty high school seniors will officially take their ath-letic talents to the collegiate level, signing letters of in-tent to play for universities across the country.

Liberty soccer players Nicolle Marlow, Kailiana Johnson, Katie Noonan and Kiana Hafferty made their college commitments official in a special signing day ceremony at the school Feb. 6. The Patriots soccer team placed fourth in state this year.

Both Marlow and John-son will play for Wash-ington State University, while Noonan will play for Southeastern Louisiana University and Hafferty will suit up for Seattle Pacific University.

Issaquah soccer player Evan King is headed across the country to the Ivy League, where he will play for Cornell University.

Samantha Garrard will go from an Issaquah Eagle to a Seattle University Red-hawk, where she will play tennis for the school.

Skyline athletes sign lettersSix Skyline athletes of-

ficially committed to play college sports Feb. 6 during the National Signing Day.

From the Skyline football team, Peyton Pelluer will play for Washington State University; Nic Sblendorio will join the team at East-ern Washington University; and Trevor Barney will take his talents to the University of San Diego. From the Skyline soccer program, Lianna Simms will play for Washington State Univer-sity; Anna DeWeirdt signed with the University of New Hampshire; and Keleb Strawn will play at St. Mar-tins University.

Audrey Thomas named soccer player of the year

Issaquah High School senior midfielder Audrey Thomas ended her career with 35 goals, 27 assists and a multitude of awards.

Now, she can add Ga-torade Washington girls soccer player of the year to her long list of accomplish-ments.

The award, which recog-nizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exempla-ry character demonstrated on and off the field, distin-guishes Thomas as Wash-ington’s best high school girls soccer player.

Thomas led the Eagles to a second-place finish in the state’s Class 4A champion-ship game this season, earn-ing the KingCo Conference

4A player of the year award for the second year in a row.

She will play at Division III Williams College in Mas-sachusetts.

State prep sports competition begins

Athletes from Issaquah, Liberty and Skyline high schools will compete in the state championships for wrestling, gymnastics and swimming this weekend.

Each sport will crown its victors after two full days of competition beginning Feb. 15 and ending the next day.

The boys swimming and diving competition will be held at the King County Aquatic Center, 650 S.W. Campus Dr., Federal Way.

The 2013 Mat Classic, celebrating its 25th year of wrestling competition, oc-curs at the Tacoma Dome, 2727 E. D St., Tacoma.

The gymnastics state final also takes place at the Tacoma Dome, but in the attached Exhibition Hall.

Ticket prices vary by event and can be purchased at the door. View schedules, check ticket prices and get directions at www.wiaa.com.

Max Browne named Parade All-American

Max Browne may have already bid Skyline High School and its football team farewell for California, but he is still making headlines in the Northwest.

Browne has been named a Parade All American. He was the only quarterback on the annual football team, published in the Feb. 3 edition of the magazine in the Sunday Seattle Times.

Browne, who is enrolled at the University of South-ern California after graduat-ing early from high school, is the state’s career leader in passing yards (12,953) and completions (882). He threw for 146 touchdowns in three seasons.

During his senior year, in which he led the Sky-line Spartans to the Class 4A state championship, Browne passed for 49 touchdowns with just five interceptions.

The last Parade All-American from the state was wide receiver Kasen Williams, another former Skyline player. Williams, who now plays for the Uni-versity of Washington, was the magazine’s Player of the Year in 2011.

PREP ROUNDUP

Local athletes sign with colleges

PHOTOS BY GREG FARRAR

The Parade of Athletes walks onto the court at the Issaquah Community Center as the Eastside Dream Elite Cheer Squad lines up to welcome them during the opening ceremonies Feb. 10 at the Issaquah Community Center.

COURTING OLYMPIANS

Derek Swanson (45), with the Issaquah Wolves, scores a two point basket during the second quarter against the Burien Huskies in their Masters 1 and 2 Division game.

Above, Jake Richards puts up a shot and scores two points.

At right, the Issaquah Jets, in light jerseys, and coach

David Kuflik (holding basket-ball) share congratulations

after their Masters 7 Division game against the Federal Way

Thunder.

Above right, Bobby Pearson (15) of the Issaquah Jets dribbles the ball upcourt as Federal Way Thunder’s Erin Moore tries for the steal. At left, Drew Petschl puts up two points.