Two Familiar Matches In Quarterfinals -- Snohomish Hopes To Reverse Rerun With Mead

They meet again - the defending champion and the aspiring one.

Snohomish High School continues to bid for its first state Class AAA girls high-school basketball championship in tonight's quarterfinals against Mead of Spokane, which seeks its second in a row and third in four years. Tipoff in the Seattle Center Arena is 7 p.m.

Mead started its title march last year with a first-round victory over Snohomish, which then won three straight to place fifth - the school's highest finish.

Both teams recorded impressive first-round victories yesterday. No. 4-ranked Snohomish (20-4) drilled Lakes of Tacoma 62-40, and No. 5 Mead (20-5) knocked off No. 3 Puyallup 58-42.

Two other familiar opponents, Auburn and Kamiakin, meet in the 8:30 p.m. quarterfinal. The unranked Trojans (23-4) played one of their best games of the season to edge Fort Vancouver 61-56, while No. 2 Kamiakin (24-2) blitzed Lake Washington 68-33. The Braves have had success against Auburn at state in the past, winning the 1985 title game in overtime and handing the 1988 Trojan team its only loss of the season with a first-round upset.

In today's early quarterfinals, No. 1 Central Valley of Spokane (26-0) played No. 8 Wilson of Tacoma (21-3), and No. 6 Edmonds-Woodway (19-5) met No. 10 Eisenhower of Yakima (19-7).

Snohomish Coach Mark Albertine said his Panthers can beat Mead - and win the tournament - if they play the way they did yesterday and have a little luck.

"I believe we do have the ability to win this thing," he said, "but a few things have to happen for that to happen. We have to play well for four games and the bounces have to go your way."

Despite its youth, Mead is proving to be a handful. And Auburn keeps proving its doubters wrong, riding guts and perhaps tradition to yet another tournament victory.

It might be a sobering experience tonight against a sharp-shooting Kamiakin club, but don't expect the Trojans to duck the fight.

"What have we got to lose?" Auburn Coach Tony Higgins asked. "Everyone says we're going to get killed if we play them. What are we supposed to do, not show up? That's not our style. We'll show up and whatever happens happens."

-- SNOHOMISH 62, LAKES 40 - The Panthers let star Kate Starbird get hers (31 points), but nullified the rest of the team. Starbird hit 10 of 27 shots from the field and the rest of the team just three of 33.

Snohomish led 13-12 early in the second quarter before taking off for a 28-17 halftime advantage and continued to cruise in the second half. While Lakes relied on one player, the Panthers displayed balance as Cindy McIntyre scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Milena Flores and Laura Vitalich had 12 points each.

With her 31 points, Starbird moved to fourth on the tournament career scoring list with 173, 13 away from the record. With a loser-out game against league rival Puyallup slated for 4 p.m. today at the Seattle Center Arena, Starbird had at least one more chance to shatter the mark.

-- AUBURN 61, FORT VANCOUVER 56 - Crystal Deeds hit two pressure free throws with 25.7 seconds remaining to give Auburn a 59-56 lead, then came up with a loose ball at the other end of the court moments later. Leigh Ann Raschkow sank two more free throws with 6.9 seconds to go to clinch the victory. For the game, Auburn made 20 of 25 free throws.

The Trappers battled one adversity after another. First, they lost their starting point guard, Marci Bernhardt, less than 1 1/2 minutes into the game when she was fouled and hit her head on the floor. Complaining of pain in the back of her neck, she was taken away on a stretcher, then treated and released at Swedish Hospital. Then scoring star Arianne Boyer fouled out midway through the fourth quarter with 29 points and nine rebounds. Fort Vancouver led 49-47 at the time.

Four Auburn players scored in double figures, led by Theresa Hawkes with 15.

-- KAMIAKIN 68, LAKE WASHINGTON 33 - The Kangaroos lasted only one quarter before being run off the court as Kamiakin turned a 12-6 first-quarter lead into a 32-10 halftime bulge.

"They're a good team and we didn't play like we're capable, which they get a lot of credit for," Kangaroo Coach Roger Hansen said.

Lake Washington turned the ball over 32 times and the Braves scored in bunches, hitting 6 of 13 three-pointers. Ari Skorpik led the way with 17 points. Sarah Yarbrough was the Kangs' top scorer with nine.

-- MEAD 58, PUYALLUP 42 - The Panthers (21-5) from Spokane turned up the defensive pressure to take control early in the second half, pushing a seven-point halftime lead to 13. They were ahead by as many as 21 points in the final quarter.

"They're a good team," Puyallup Coach Jerry DeLaurenti said. "They're scrappy and aggressive and that's what it takes when you get here."

It also takes a guard tandem such as Regan Freun and Chrystal Pakootas, both juniors. Freun scored 27 points, hitting four of five three-pointers, while Pakootas had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Kara Jenkins, who scored 14, was Puyallup's only player in double figures.

-- EISENHOWER 46, NORTH THURSTON 39 - Senior guard K.C. Mattingly gave the Cadets (19-7) from Yakima a lift in the fourth quarter with nine of her 15 points after North Thurston (20-4) had tied the score at 31.

The Rams from Lacey, who missed many easy baskets, still trailed just 43-39 with a minute to go, but couldn't capitalize on Eisenhower's erratic free-throw shooting (three of seven) at the end. Tawnya Miller led North Thurston with 10 points. Missy Ross had eight points and 11 rebounds.

Eisenhower's Molly Mickle, a 6-foot-3 junior, got 13 rebounds and eight points.

-- EDMONDS-WOODWAY 67, CENTRAL KITSAP 43 - The Warriors (19-5) from Edmonds appeared ready to pull away early, jumping to a nine-point lead. But the Cougars (16-10) from Silverdale rallied in the second quarter and trailed just 33-30 early in the third before Edmonds-Woodway ran off 13 straight points.

Jill Peterson and Holly Hills led balanced Edmonds-Woodway with 15 points each. Peterson also had 11 assists and seven steals. Ashley Scholz added 12 points. Jodi Coker (16) and Missy Hausch (13) accounted for most of Central Kitsap's offense.

-- WILSON 66, WOODINVILLE 47 - Debbie Miller, a 5-foot-9 guard bound for the University of Oregon, scored 16 of her 23 points in the second half to lift the Rams.

The Falcons had several costly turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Miller, who came on strong after a cold (2 for 11) start, had a solid all-around game with 11 rebounds, five assists and six steals. April Saunders had 14 points and Tambi Gustafson 11 for Woodinville.

-- CENTRAL VALLEY 58, KENT-MERIDIAN 25 - The Bears relied on their smothering defense to compensate for a cold-shooting first half (9 of 22 from the field, 10 of 20 from the free-throw line) and take a 30-9 halftime lead.

K-M had only 14 points with less than 2 1/2 remaining in the game. The Royals threatened to break the tournament record for lowest losing score (24) before finishing with a 12-point flurry.

CV's Laura Fralich scored a game-high 12 points, playing only about a half. K-M's Christy Olson had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Today's consolation -- WOODINVILLE 48, KENT-MERIDIAN 33: The seventh-ranked Falcons knocked Kent-Meridian out with a 12-0 third-quarter burst that turned a 24-18 game into a blowout. The Royals (15-13) made only five of 60 field-goal attempts. April Saunders scored 15 points for Woodinville (24-4).