If there was anything the King’s Way Christian girls basketball team learned from its first meeting against La Center it was to not let the Wildcats get out to an early lead.
“The first time we played them we were just off offensively and just couldn’t get ourselves going,” King’s Way coach Nicole Bagley said. “This time we were able to get our offense going a little bit sooner.”
Laurel Quinn scored 12 of her 18 points in the first half, helping the Knights build a big lead that they needed every bit of to fend off La Center 45-40 on Friday. The win gave the Knights a share of the Trico League championship with La Center.
Laurel Quinn, Bridget Quinn and Hannah Erwin each hit 3-pointers in the first quarter, while La Center went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc, helping the Knights to an 11-3 lead.
“I think our defense worked really well,” Laurel Quinn said. “We put a lot of pressure on them. Our press slowed them down. Our focus was really ‘don’t let them shoot from the 3-point line.’ ”
And as La Center kept missing, King’s Way kept pulling down rebounds, allowing the Knights to extend their lead to 29-11 by halftime.
“Our rebounding was big in this game,” senior Riley Philbrook said.
Bagley added: “It’s something we’ve really been focusing on, an area we’ve been trying to improve on. That was one of our big goals for the game was to win rebounding.”
The Knights led 38-22 late in the third quarter before La Center started to chip away at the lead.
“I think coming we knew this was going to be a hard game, so we were prepared to deal with that,” Philbrook said.
La Center got within five at 41-36, but Philbrook’s jumper with 3:23 put King’s Way back up seven.
The Wildcats again cut it five with a couple of chances to get closer, but they could not convert.
After another La Center miss, the Wildcats were forced to foul to stop the clock inside the final minute. But they only had one team foul.
But the time, they committed their seventh foul to send the Knights to the free-throw line, there were just 14.6 seconds to play. Laurel Quinn sealed the game with two free throws.
Bagley said the athletic directors will apply as series of tiebreakers to determine which team will be the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds to district next week.
Either way, King’s Way (12-4, 7-1 Trico) and La Center (12-6, 7-1) will host games when the tournament starts next Friday, and the Knights can call themselves co-champions.
“I’m so proud of them, and the growth they’ve made since the start of the season is just huge,” Bagley said
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 45, LA CENTER 40
LA CENTER — Jessie Tomberlin 0, Gianna D’Emilio 6, Annabelle Atwood 4, Talia Wise 0, Alyse Webberley 2, Kylee Stephens 18, Malyah Cooley 10. Totals 15 (6) 4-9 40.
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN — Avery Tindol 0, Hannah Erwin 5, Bridget Quinn 8, Riley Philbrook 9, Ella Zimmerman 3, Laurel Quinn 18, Izzy Hill 2. Totals 17 (6) 5-6 00.
La Center 3 8 18 11—40
King’s Way 11 18 11 5—45
