Wolves cruise past Papermakers in Class 4A quarterfinals

By Shaun Scott • March 1, 2018 8:10 pm
Photo courtesy of Don Borin/Stop Action Photography Eastlake Wolves forward Mae Bryant scored 12 points and pulled down 12 rebounds against the Camas Papermakers on March 1 at Tacoma Dome. The Wolves captured a 58-27 victory against the Papermakers to clinch a berth in the Class 4A state semifinals.
Photo courtesy of Don Borin/Stop Action Photography Eastlake Wolves forward Mae Bryant scored 12 points and pulled down 12 rebounds against the Camas Papermakers on March 1 at Tacoma Dome. The Wolves captured a 58-27 victory against the Papermakers to clinch a berth in the Class 4A state semifinals.

The Eastlake Wolves girls basketball team couldn’t wait for their rematch against the Camas Papermakers.

Eastlake dominated in all facets of the game en route to a convincing 58-27 victory against Camas in a Class 4A state quarterfinal matchup on March 1 at the Tacoma Dome.

Camas, which defeated Eastlake 44-36 in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs last year, couldn’t stop Eastlake’s balanced offense in their playoff matchup this season. Eastlake point guard Gina Marxen and sophomore center Keeli Burton each scored 13 points apiece in the win. Eastlake forward Mae Bryant recorded a double-double tallying 12 points and 12 rebounds. Wolves’ senior Cameron Edward added 12 points and was 6-for-8 from the free throw line. Eastlake led Camas 27-6 at halftime. Wolves’ head coach Sara Goldie knew last year’s loss against Camas was on her team’s mind when they took the floor.

“Last year was a heartbreaker for those kids. They remember that moment in the locker room after the game and probably remember the moments of the game too. They didn’t want a repeat to happen,” Goldie said. “We had a game-plan and we took care of business on defense.”

Camas made just 11 field goals and shot a woeful 20.4 percent from the field against the Wolves. Marxen concurred with Goldie’s assessment.

“We wanted to get revenge from last year and I think we definitely did that,” Marxen said.

Eastlake (24-2) will face the Woodinville Falcons in the Class 4A semifinals at 5:30 p.m. on March 2 at the Tacoma Dome. Woodinville defeated Kentridge 55-54 on a three-pointer at the buzzer on March 1 to advance to the semifinals. The Wolves and Falcons have faced each other three times during the 2017-18 season thus far. Woodinville won two of the three matchups.

“It is no surprise we are playing them. They are a really good team and obviously one of our rivals. It is going to be a tough game. We’re going to prepare as much as we can tonight,” Marxen said.

Edward is confident about her team’s chances of success against the Falcons.

“We know how to defend them. We know what we have to do. We just got to stay focused, go out there and play like we always have. It has been such a fun season. I think the biggest thing with our team this year is that we’ve bonded a ton off the court too. I think you can see that on the court with our chemistry. We’re having fun out there and I think that is key right now,” Edward said.