EVERETT – Tulalip Heritage’s girls basketball team is headed to state thanks to a Lebron-like performance against Mary M. Knight by standout senior Adiya Jones.
The Hawks, 23-1, will play undefeated Sunnyside Christian, 24-0, Thursday, March 3, at 3:45 p.m. at Spokane Arena.
Against MMK, the 5-foot-10 forward-center dominated the inside against the much-shorter Owls, tallying 26 points in the 54-42 win and also being dominant in rebounding with 15. But near the end of the game she also was isolated at the top of the key and would drive in for layups or pass off with an assist to a teammate.
Tulalip started off in a loose 2-3 zone, which played right to the strength of the Owls, as they connected on four three-pointers for a 12-7 lead.
Two baskets by Jones and another by sophomore guard Keryn Parks put Tulalip up at the end of the period, however, 14-12, as the Hawks worked the ball inside easily against MMK’s 2-1-2 zone.
Into the second period, Tulalip continued what would end up to be a 20-0 run after Jones stole the ball and drove the length of the court for a layup, then passed to sister Aliya for another inside bucket. Aliya hit a three-pointer, Parks and Cyena Fryberg then scored to make it 27-12 nearing halftime. Both Aliya and Fryberg are juniors.
MMK went on a little run of its own to make it 29-19 at halftime, after two steals and layups by freshman Kaylee Sowle.
At the break, Jones already had 14 and Mary Koonrad, a 5-3 freshman, led MMK with nine.
Both teams struggled offensively to start the second half. Aliyah scored the first basket with 2:22 remaining. After Desirae Williams scored and Parks hit a three Tulalip tied its biggest lead of the game at 36-21. But MMK went on a 6-0 run at the end of the period after a couple baskets by eighth-grader Jadyn Davidson to make it 36-27. The Owls had just six players on the team, three being eighth-graders.
The teams basically traded baskets in the final period. Both teams went to a full-court press, and sloppy play resulted in a double technical foul call on Parks and Sowle.
Jones solidified the win with a drive to the hoop and by scoring after grabbing an offensive rebound to make it 49-34 with 2:15 remaining.
Along with Jones’ 26, Aliyah and Parks scored nine each, Fryberg added six and Williams 4.
For the losing team, which ended its season at 15-7, Koonrad led with 17 followed by Sowle with 12 and Davidson with six. Senior guard Jaycee Valley, who normally leads the team in scoring, was held to seven.
