Fighting back tears, Skyline senior Michelle Bretl was still adjusting to the fact her high-school basketball career just ended Friday night.
But it certainly wasn’t lack of effort.
Bretl, one of three Spartan seniors, led Skyline on a ferocious comeback that fell just short, resulting in a 64-54 loss to South Kitsap during the opening round of the 4A state tournament in Puyallup.
“That’s one thing that you can always count on with this team, is that we will battle to the very end,” said Bretl, whose jumper with 2:12 pulled the Spartans to within three points, 55-52.
Just 4 minutes earlier, Skyline trailed by its largest deficit of 11 points.
No matter what the Spartans did on defense, however, they couldn’t stop the Wolves down the stretch.
“We just didn’t really have an answer for them all game,” Skyline head coach Greg Bruns said. “We threw a lot at them. We trapped their guards, we did man, we did zone, we did full-court pressure and they seemed to handle just about everything.”
South Kitsap answered Bretl’s big shot on its ensuing possession via Ali Davis’ three-pointer — the Wolves’ seventh triple of the night. South Kitsap closed the game out in the final minute, going 6-for-7 from the free-throw line, while Skyline went 0-for-2 from the field and committed a pair of turnovers.
“It’s unfortunate that shots just wouldn’t fall for us,” Bretl said. “South Kitsap was just knocking them down, even with a hand in their face – kudos to them.”
Fighting from behind was the theme of the night for the Spartans, who trailed 10-0 to start the game. They battled back to take their first and only lead of the game, 23-22, on a pair of Megan Wiedeman free throws with 2:47 left in the second quarter.
The Wolves closed the half out on another 10-0 run, however, taking a 32-23 lead to the locker room. They maintained their cushion until the final minutes of the fourth quarter via double-digit performances from three players. Jackie Steiger led South Kitsap with 17 points, while Kelsey Callaghan and Taylor Sunkel scored, 15 and 14, respectively.
The Spartans out-rebounded the Wolves 37-31, committed just one more turnover, and hit 18 of 19 free throws, but the big difference came from behind the three-point line. South Kitsap was 7-for-18, while Skyline went 0-for-7.
Bretl led the Spartans with a team-high 16 points, while junior Allie Wyszynski added 14. She was 6-for-7 at the free throw line. Wiedeman added eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Skyline finished its season with a 16-9 overall record, making its first state appearance in four years and just the second in program history.
“It’s rough, it’s upsetting, but to get this far – top 16 in the state – is an accomplishment in itself,” Bretl said. “I’m excited to see what the girls can do next year. There’s a lot of leaders, so it should be fun.”
