Are Katie Fiso and Garfield back on track for 3A Washington girls basketball four-peat?
SEATTLE - Top-ranked Garfield scored the first 10 points in a 96-second span of the third quarter, to finally pull away from No. 6 Lakeside of Seattle in the 3A Metro League girls championship game Friday night at Seattle Pacific University.
The 66-53 victory evolved from an early three-point deficit after one quarter before Katie Fiso got her offense rolling with three deep 3-pointers in the second quarter, grabbing a 28-24 lead.
Fiso led all scorers with 25 points overall. Mia Bloom scored 22 to pace Lakeside of Seattle, one of just two teams to beat the Bulldogs all season. The Lions also are the only 3A team to defeat Garfield, who lost in an MLK holiday tournament to 4A Camas.
Here are two takeaways from the Garfield-Lakeside of Seattle game:
---
QUICK HANDS DO DIRTY WORK
The three-time defending WIAA champs couple near-constant pressure defensively with quick hands. Off the opening tip, which Sarah Lessig lost, the Garfield junior immediately shot a hand out and stole the next pass from Lakeside.
While not every tipped pass or loose ball became a turnover, the Bulldogs quick hands left the Lions scrambling on many of their possessions. On the other side, because Garfield didn’t secure many of those tips Lakeside did finish with a number of open looks.
“We’ve just got a bunch of natural athletes,” Lessig said. “And we work on that every day in practice.”
---
ON ROAD TO UNTHINKABLE?
The Metro title was just the first of what the Bulldogs hope will be three trophies they take back to Garfield this postseason. Next up, Garfield enters the Sea-King district tournament as the top seed from the league as well.
The Bulldogs will play their first district game on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Bellevue College against the winner of the first-round game between Holy Names and Juanita. The Lions will get the winner between Liberty and Roosevelt at 3:30 p.m. at Sammamish High on Tuesday as the second seed.
Then would come the ultimate – a run for a fourth consecutive 3A state title.
“It’s a great appetizer,” Garfield girls coach Roy Smiley said. “It keeps the morale up. And knowing that they can accomplish something unspeakable, go out and get that fourth (state) one.”
---
