Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Gorillas pull away from Lake Roosevelt
Davenport sophomore Glenna Soliday splits two Lake Roosevelt defenders in the Gorillas' 64-44 win over the Raiders in the District 6/7 Crossover at West Valley High School Saturday, Feb. 17.
SPOKANE VALLEY - An old saying states the simple: Pressure makes diamonds. But it also bursts pipes. And the latter is what happened to the Lake Roosevelt offense when the Davenport girls employed a press defense in the second half of a District 6/7 Crossover game that allowed the Gorillas to pull away from the Raiders 64-44 at West Valley High School Saturday, Feb. 17.
The win allowed the Davenport girls to advance to State for the second straight season.
The first half had the No. 2 seed in District 7, Davenport, on upset watch against District 6's No. 4 seed in Lake Roosevelt. Inconsistent offense from the Gorillas and just enough shot making from the Raiders allowed the visitors to take a 13-8 lead after a quarter and 24-20 lead into halftime.
Eight points and nine rebounds from Jensyn Jacobsen paced the Gorillas in the first half.
Halftime was when head coach Stacia Soliday decided to start the second half in a full-court pressure defense, and it changed the game. Davenport went on a 19-5 run in the first seven minutes of the quarter, including multiple easy layups created from forced turnovers in the backcourt by Lake Roosevelt.
"We had been thinking we would press at some point in that game, but we said 'yes, we'll do it' at halftime," Soliday said.
Five straight points from the Raiders allowed the underdogs to cut a 39-29 Davenport lead to 39-34 heading into the final quarter, but that was as close as Lake Roosevelt got.
The Gorillas didn't relent defensively, and shots started to go down for Charlotte Soliday and Clare Lathrop. Davenport crushed any Raider hopes of an upset in the fourth quarter, outscoring Lake Roosevelt by 15 points in the frame.
"(We took) better shots, controlling the ball, dribbling and not freaking out," Glenna Soliday said. "All of the above."
A balanced Davenport attack was led by Glenna Soliday, who had 20 points. Charlotte Soliday scored 16 points, while Jacobsen had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Lathrop added 10 points and seven boards for the state-bound Gorillas.
Davenport received the No. 10 seed at State and will play for its season in a First Round matchup with No. 15 Tri-Cities Prep at Cheney High School at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23.
The Gorillas have played the Jaguars once before this season, getting a 66-37 win at the Eagle Holiday Classic Dec. 28. The winner of Friday's playoff rematch advances to the Round of 12 at the Spokane Arena.
"Liberty and Reardan and Colfax games, we played more aggressive, we looked more organized, did a good job on defense," Soliday said. "This wasn't that. If we can play like we did the last three games, then I think we can win a game, or two, or three."
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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