Published: Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Edmonds-Woodway sent home by Stanwood
Senior Madeline Kasper plays her final contest
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For The Weekly Herald/JENNIFER BUCHANAN
Stanwood's Brenda Bingham (left) and Jade Borseth (right) converge on Edmonds-Woodway's Natalie Kasper for a loose ball.
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For The Weekly Herald/JENNIFER BUCHANAN
Stanwood’s Tarah Murphy (left) blocks the lane on Edmonds-Woodway’s Madeline Kasper during a loser-out 4A District 1 playoff game Feb. 14 at Stanwood High School. The Spartans won 46-36.
STANWOOD — For three quarters, Stanwood's offense lurched along in fits and starts.
“We were getting decent shots. We were just not consistently putting shots in back-to-back,” Stanwood head coach Dennis Kloke.
When the Spartans finally got into their offensive rhythm, they turned a one-point deficit and back-and-forth battle with Edmonds-Woodway into a lopsided finish, defeating the Warriors 46-36 Feb. 14 in a Class 4A girls District 1 loser-out game.
“The shots started to go in,” Kloke said. “It's as simple as that.”
Stanwood then defeated Arlington 60-54 to advance to a winner-to-regionals game against Skyline on Feb. 21.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 10-3 lead against the Warriors, which seemed like quite a bit considering the way the two offenses were playing. But Madeline Kasper's 3-pointer in the final seconds of the first quarter cut Stanwood's lead to just four.
In the second period, the Spartans threatened to pull away again building a 16-8 lead. Once again the Warriors made a late-quarter push to keep it close. Kasper made one free throw and her sister, Natalie, hit two to cut the Warriors' deficit to five, 16-11, as the teams headed into the locker room for halftime.
In the third quarter, Madeline Kasper helped her team take its first lead of the game at 19-18 with her second 3-pointer. She scored five straight points for E-W at the end of the period to help the Warriors keep the lead, 25-24.
“She's really an unusual girl,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Duane Hodges said of his senior guard. “She is really a gentle and fun-loving girl during the dead ball. But when it's a live ball, she is about as fierce of a competitor as you can get.”
Even with Kasper, the Warriors couldn't negate the Spartans' fourth-quarter offensive outburst. Stanwood opened the quarter on an 11-0 run and kept surging, turning a one-point deficit into a 16-point advantage.
Rachel Swartz scored 14 points to lead the way for the Spartans. Paisley Heckman added in 10.
“I'm very, very pleased,” Kloke said about Swartz's play. “She is an athlete that really wants to win and sometimes she takes on too much of the responsibility. That is good and bad at the same time. And she got herself under control tonight and she did exactly what we wanted her to do.”
With the outcome no longer in doubt, Hodges was able to take out Madeline Kasper in the game's final seconds for a chance to be recognized for her career by the Warriors fans who had made the trip to Stanwood. She finished with 17 points.
“I had to fight back tears,” Hodges said of seeing Kasper come off the court for the last time. “I wanted people to recognize what she has done. The number of games she has won as a starter at Edmonds-Woodway has been like 103 games. That's a lot of games.”
Kloke also acknowledged Kasper with an embrace in the handshake line after the game.
“I have only been able to watch her when we have played them or when I was scouting them,” Kloke said. “I have noticed her body language on and off the court and she must be a fabulous young lady. And she has had a great career. Being the only senior and she had little tears in her eyes and I just felt for her.
“I just told her ... that I really appreciated how hard she has played her entire basketball career. I just wanted to acknowledge that to her.”
“We were getting decent shots. We were just not consistently putting shots in back-to-back,” Stanwood head coach Dennis Kloke.
When the Spartans finally got into their offensive rhythm, they turned a one-point deficit and back-and-forth battle with Edmonds-Woodway into a lopsided finish, defeating the Warriors 46-36 Feb. 14 in a Class 4A girls District 1 loser-out game.
“The shots started to go in,” Kloke said. “It's as simple as that.”
Stanwood then defeated Arlington 60-54 to advance to a winner-to-regionals game against Skyline on Feb. 21.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 10-3 lead against the Warriors, which seemed like quite a bit considering the way the two offenses were playing. But Madeline Kasper's 3-pointer in the final seconds of the first quarter cut Stanwood's lead to just four.
In the second period, the Spartans threatened to pull away again building a 16-8 lead. Once again the Warriors made a late-quarter push to keep it close. Kasper made one free throw and her sister, Natalie, hit two to cut the Warriors' deficit to five, 16-11, as the teams headed into the locker room for halftime.
In the third quarter, Madeline Kasper helped her team take its first lead of the game at 19-18 with her second 3-pointer. She scored five straight points for E-W at the end of the period to help the Warriors keep the lead, 25-24.
“She's really an unusual girl,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Duane Hodges said of his senior guard. “She is really a gentle and fun-loving girl during the dead ball. But when it's a live ball, she is about as fierce of a competitor as you can get.”
Even with Kasper, the Warriors couldn't negate the Spartans' fourth-quarter offensive outburst. Stanwood opened the quarter on an 11-0 run and kept surging, turning a one-point deficit into a 16-point advantage.
Rachel Swartz scored 14 points to lead the way for the Spartans. Paisley Heckman added in 10.
“I'm very, very pleased,” Kloke said about Swartz's play. “She is an athlete that really wants to win and sometimes she takes on too much of the responsibility. That is good and bad at the same time. And she got herself under control tonight and she did exactly what we wanted her to do.”
With the outcome no longer in doubt, Hodges was able to take out Madeline Kasper in the game's final seconds for a chance to be recognized for her career by the Warriors fans who had made the trip to Stanwood. She finished with 17 points.
“I had to fight back tears,” Hodges said of seeing Kasper come off the court for the last time. “I wanted people to recognize what she has done. The number of games she has won as a starter at Edmonds-Woodway has been like 103 games. That's a lot of games.”
Kloke also acknowledged Kasper with an embrace in the handshake line after the game.
“I have only been able to watch her when we have played them or when I was scouting them,” Kloke said. “I have noticed her body language on and off the court and she must be a fabulous young lady. And she has had a great career. Being the only senior and she had little tears in her eyes and I just felt for her.
“I just told her ... that I really appreciated how hard she has played her entire basketball career. I just wanted to acknowledge that to her.”