Cleveland wing Myla Hightower puts up a shot in the paint.
Cleveland pulled away in the third quarter to beat Glacier Peak 62-52 and secure the Eagles a spot in the state tournament.
Cleveland (17-8), which is looking to threepeat as 3A state champions, has fought back from tough losses this season to Lakeside and West Seattle for the Metro championship.
“I started doubting our chances, but it feels right now,” said wing Myla Hightower, who finished with 15 points and five rebounds. “We played like a team today, and we played our best.”
Glacier Peak (20-4) led just 14-9 after the first quarter, but Cleveland pulled ahead with 5.9 seconds left before the half. A steal from Cleveland center Joyce Harrell led to a layup from point guard Jayde Christopher, and Cleveland didn’t give up its lead again:
In the second half, guard Aqeelah Williams led Cleveland’s 11-2 run to build up a 47-33 lead at the end of
the third quarter. Williams went off for 15 of her game high 20 points in the second half, hitting back-to-back threes that pushed Cleveland out of Glacier Peak’s reach.
“Aqeelah, she’s hit a lot of big time shots for us in the past, and today, we couldn’t have done it without her,” Hightower said.
Going into the game, Glacier Peak coach Brian Hill was wary of defending against Cleveland’s up-tempo style, which includes a full-court press the entire game, and ultimately Cleveland wore down the Glacier Peak defense.
“We were getting a little complacent defensively, just kind of playing defense, but it wasn’t as good as we were playing [in the first half],” Hill said. “Their buckets came from a steal, it was all transition stuff. There was no offensive stuff.”
Cleveland’s lead rebounder Boise State bound Harrell got in foul trouble in the second half, but luckily Cleveland has a lot of depth to play around with. Williams said this was key to the Eagles’ victory:
Glacier Peak held on, closing out the fourth quarter 19-15, but it was not enough to make up for a sluggish third period. Sadie Mensing paced the Grizzlies with 19 points, and Kayla Watkins added 14.
