YAKIMA — Not until Taylor Mills hit the hardwood, followed by a celebratory mob by her teammates, did it hit her: the shot went in.
The shot was her 18-footer as time expired to send the Wildcats to Thursday’s Class 1A state quarterfinals with a 48-46 victory over Columbia (Burbank) in Wednesday’s first-round loser-out game of the Hardwood Classic.
That’s right: La Center’s 6-foot-2 junior post with a shot near two feet inside the 3-point line for the game-winner, a first in her career, she said.
“I like that spot right there,” Mills said. “… We didn’t want to go home after the first game. We want to do big things this weekend.”
Wednesday was a good start.
Mills’ eight points and six rebounds, in addition to Whitley Seter’s game-high 13 points with three 3-pointers advanced La Center (23-1) to the double-elimination portion of the tournament. The Wildcats face top-seed Cashmere at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
Columbia’s Taylor Turner answered Taylor Stephens’ bucket with 7.3 seconds remaining to tie the game at 48.
Following La Center’s timeout, Stephens drove the length of the floor. The final play wasn’t specifically designed for Mills, but Stephens did her job once the defense converged on the 1A Trico League MVP — dish to a corner spot, and Mills happened to be there.
That sat just fine, though, for coach Herm VanWeerdhuizen.
“Somehow,” he said, “it went in. She plays around with that shot in practice.”
The season ends for Columbia (Burbank) at 23-2.
The fourth quarter had glimpses of the team’s district title victory over Montesano Feb. 18, featuring plenty of back-and-forth play, especially in the closing minutes.
While La Center didn’t have a stellar shooting game (19-for-52) — even starting the second quarter 0-for-7 with a near-5-minute scoring drought — it found an offensive rhythm in the final eight minutes. Whitten’s third 3-pointer of the game with 2 minutes, 44 seconds to play gave the Wildcats their largest lead at 44-36.
But back came the Coyotes, closing the gap and tying it twice behind clutch free-throw shooting and Turner’s shot that made it 46-all.
The experience of being in Yakima doesn’t reside with the current Wildcats — it’s the program’s first trip to Yakima since 2009. But pressure situations such as the district-title win over Montesano and prior regionals game experience was key down the stretch Wednesday, said Whitten, who also had four steals, four assists and three rebounds while being disruptive in the Columbia passing lanes.
“We have faith in ourselves and know we’re going to be OK,” she said.
Stephens and Molly Edwards each finished with 10 points for La Center.
LA CENTER 48, COLUMBIA (BURBANK) 46
COLUMBIA – Ali Martineau 11, Taylor Turner 10, Lauren O’Brien 6, Michelle Maine 8, Monica Mares 8, S. Johnson 2, J. Johnson 1. Totals 16 (2) 12-21 46.
LA CENTER – Whitley Seter 3, Molly Edwards 10, Bethany Whitten 13, Taylor Mills 8, Taylor Stephens 10, Laynie Erickson 4, Alyssa McKnight 0. Totals 19 (5) 5-10. 48.
Columbia: 10 9 11 16 — 46
La Center: 17 5 10 16 — 48
