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AUBURN – The second-seeded Sumner girls basketball team entered its Class 4A regional-round game Saturday as a favorite over Richland.

Which is an entirely-different position for the Spartans, who have never won a 4A state playoff game in its history.

Check that off the list.

Sumner dominated the seventh-seeded Bombers, 72-52, showing that despite not having a championship pedigree, the Spartans are every bit the state championship contender that they've looked to be all season.

"You hate to bring history into it, but that’s the first time that Sumner has ever won a regional or state game in girls basketball," first-year head coach Katie Hyppa said. "That’s a big thing. We always talk about going 1-0. Today, that 1-0 felt good. I’m proud of the kids. I’m excited for them. They get to go into the dome with a first-round bye, and that’s huge, especially for our style of play, getting up and down.

"Getting over that hump and getting that off our back feels good going into next week."

The Spartans will play the Bellarmine Prep/Camas winner at 2 p.m. Thursday in the 4A quarterfinals.

Sumner used a dominating second quarter - 28-9 - to take control of the game Saturday against a squad that had just captured the Mid Columbia/Greater Spokane League crossover district title.

The Spartans were led in the first half by sophomore Lainee Houillon and senior Catelyn Deaver, who each had 13 points. Catelyn’s twin sister Alyson Deaver chipped in 12 points in the game’s first 16 minutes.

Sumner led 42-20 at halftime.

"In the second quarter, we talked about just overall being tough," Hyppa said. "A couple of our turnovers were just loose balls, and we just weren’t grabbing the basketball. That’s not like us. It was an earlier game, so we got in our flow a little late I would say. But overall, when we picked up the intensity and were able to get up and down that was the difference-maker."

The Deaver sisters led the way: Alyson finished with a game-high 23, and Catelyn had 17.

Houillon finished the game with 16 points, but it was her defense as much as her offense that helped propel her team to victory. Houillon spent time guarding both Richland junior Kylie Fox and sophomore Macie Milum, two of Richland’s main offensive weapons.

"(Macie) is really quick," Houillon said. "I feel like we kind of play the same, so it was just kind of keeping her in front of me. (Kylee) is very talented. She hit her 1,000th point, which is great for her, but I just felt like I had to dig in on defense against both of those players."

Fox, the two-time player of the year in the MCC, collected her 1,000th career point in the loss to the Spartans on Saturday. She finished with 17 in the game.

"She’s a great player," Richland girls coach Amy Westerfield. "She’s done a lot for us. She draws a lot of attention on the court and creates opportunities for her teammates. Sumner had a good plan. They were really physical with her, and they got away with a lot with that, but I thought she competed well."

The Bombers will play Sunnyside at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday in a loser-out game at the Tacoma Dome for a spot in the quarterfinals.

"We knew it was going to be tough (against Sumner), but we’ve been battling all season in league," Westerfield said. "Every game in our league season has been super-competitive. You’ve got to take it on the chin and get a little bit more hungry – and a lot more competitive because that’s what it’s going to be like (in the dome) too."