The Enumclaw High girls completed the South Puget Sound League 3A portion of their schedule with an 11-5 record, good for third place and a Friday night date in the opening round of the subdistrict basketball tournament.
As the No. 3 seed from the SPSL 3A, the Hornets will take on Hazen High, the No. 3 club from the Seamount League. Game time is 5:30 p.m. at Auburn Mountainview High, the host school for all subdistrict play. Both clubs will be advancing to the West Central District tournament, the winner as the No. 5 entry and the loser as No. 6.
The 16-team district tourney will send seven qualifiers to the March 11-14 Class 3A state tournament in the Tacoma Dome.
Enumclaw coach Ted Carlson had a chance to scout Hazen High, both in person and on film.
“They’re not real tall but they’re an athletic team,” he reported. “They look like a pretty good ball club.”
Enumclaw completed the regular season Friday night with a 68-57 loss to visiting White River. Fans from both sides of the river packed Chuck Smith Gymnasium for the contest, which held plenty of importance for each team. Enumclaw could have climbed into a second-place tie with a win, while White River was looking to polish off a perfect league season.
Enumclaw outscored its guests during the final three quarters of the game, but that couldn’t make up for an opening eight minutes that saw White River race to a 20-8 lead.
Heather Hitch had a strong game for Enumclaw, scoring 16 points and pulling down 15 rebounds, and Alex Chenowyth helped EHS rally by hitting four of her five attempts from 3-point range.
A huge spark was provided by backup guard Danica Abramson, who came up with four steals, contributed some nifty assists and buried a 3-pointer with 3:10 left in the game that sliced the visitor’s lead to just five points at 58-53.
Enumclaw’s final league victory of the season came Feb. 11, a 52-39 victory over Franklin Pierce.
Hitch led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Hayley Kohler added 13 points, seven rebounds and five steals.
Reach Kevin Hanson at khanson@courierherald.com or 360-802-8205.
