By John Leggett
The Courier-Herald
The young Sumner High girls basketball squad played its second loser-out game in the span of a week Friday night, falling 67-52 to Lakes High in the initial phase of the 3A West Central-Southwest District basketball tournament.
The Spartan cagers had an evening that nightmares are made of, committing nearly 30 deadly turnovers in the season-ending affair.
Meanwhile, it seemed nearly everything Lakes tossed in the general direction of the hoop found its way to the bottom of the net.
The sharpshooting Lancers galloped to an early 14-4 advantage after the first eight minutes of play and maintained at least a 10-point cushion throughout the lopsided affair.
It seemed as though Lakes took up a permanent residence at the foul line in that telling last eight minutes, hitting 11 of its 14 foul line attempts in the period.
Sumner could not climb back into the contest as turnovers and fouls plagued its effort.
“The Lancers are really playing some good ball right now,” SHS coach Rob Thayer said. “I think they’ve won their last six games in a row. Their man-on-man defense took us out of nearly every single thing that we tried to do. You just can’t get that far behind against an athletic team like Lakes that was hitting on all cylinders offensively.”
The Spartans, who finished the season 10-6 in league and 13-9 overall, were not without their fair share of individual performances, as 6-foot junior post Kaitlin King gathered 11 rebounds and recorded 10 points. Junior guard Angie Wagar-Sanchez scored 10 points and hauled down nine boards.
Thayer told his troops after the loss they should not hang their heads.
“I told them that this fine season we had is something to build on for next season,” he said. “These gals improved so much this year playing together as a cohesive unit.
Thayer could have seven varsity girls as seniors next year, including Wagar-Sanchez, King, Ashley Delaney, Erika Olsen, Kendall Theden, Tyeanne Lubking and Laree Rommell.
Next year’s crew will be playing in the South Puget Sound League 2A with White River, Clover Park, Steilacoom, Eatonville, Fife, Franklin Pierce and Washington.
