MARYSVILLE A strong team effort by the Masters Touch girls basketball team helped the Lady Falcons hold off a late surge by Tulalip to win 41-37 Feb. 16 at Cedarcrest Middle School and advance to loser-out game for a state tournament slot.
Junior guard Sheena Robinson put up a game-high 17 points for the Tulalip Hawks 14 of them in the second half but it was not quite enough to keep their season alive for another game.
Turnovers and foul trouble for Tulalip in the first half gave Masters Touch a small boost to go into the locker room up 24-14 at halftime, despite the Falcons shooting only 4-for-11 from the free-throw line.
Masters Touch junior guard Tia Breekveldt led her teammates with 12 points. Junior guard Sharaya Burrows was the only other Falcon player to put up double-digit points.
The Falcons started the game with a 9-3 run with early points from Burrows and Breekveldt. With 4:32 remaining in the first quarter, Tulalip got on the board with the first of five three-point baskets from Robinson.
At the end of the first quarter, it looked like Masters Touch was running away with the game, going on another 11-2 run until junior Jackie Hatch hit a big three-pointer late in the half to halt Tulalips skid, 22-13.
The Falcons maintained a comfortable cushion of about 10 points over Tulalip for much of the second half, but a pair of threes from Robinson with 4:26 and 3:55 left in the game and a field goal from senior Erin Fryberg ignited the Hawks fan base and propelled Tulalip to a five-point deficit, 37-32.
With less than two minutes in the game, a field goal from senior Tulalip guard Racio Jack and another three from Hatch made it 40-37 and put the Hawks within a possession of forcing overtime. The Hawks got as close as 18.5 seconds remaining and possession of the ball, but a foul sent the Falcons Chelsey Graber to the free-throw line where she missed her first basket and landed her second to seal the win for Masters Touch, 41-37.
In the Feb. 17 Northwest 1B bi-district loser-out, winner-to-state playoff game, Masters Touch fell to North Sound Christian 47-42.