LA CENTER FRESHMAN Taylor Stephens (24) is shown here in a game earlier this season. Stephens scored 17 points Thursday to lead the Wildcats to win in their district tournament opener.
LA CENTER COACH Herm VanWeerdhuizen credits sophomore guard Bethany Whitten (14) for being the Wildcats’ player who “holds it altogether.’’ Whitten, shown here in a game earlier this season, helped La Center to a 62-36 playoff win over Eatonville on Thursday.
LA CENTER – The La Center girls are a young basketball team hoping to accomplish big things during this postseason. The Wildcats got the playoffs underway on Thursday with a 62-36 win over Eatonville in a Class 1A district tournament game played at La Center High School.
Freshman Taylor Stephens led the way with 17 points, sophomore Taylor Mills chipped in 16 and senior guard Andrea Griffee added 15 as the Wildcats improved their season record to 19-2 with the win.
“I thought our defense was good,’’ said La Center coach Herm VanWeerdhuizen, whose team won all four quarters to continue to build upon its lead throughout the game. “Offensively, we’re still not finishing shots that I think we need to finish. But, we played good, hard defense.’’
La Center led 26-14 at halftime but then picked up the pace in the second half. VanWeerdhuizen praised Griffee and backcourt mate Bethany Whitten, a sophomore, for their defense. He also credited senior post Shelby Vermeulen for chipping in on the effort to slow down Eatonville.
“I thought Andrea (Griffee) did a real good job,’’ said VanWeerdhuizen, pointing to Griffee’s seven steals as an illustration of her efforts. “Off the bench, Ashley Denney did a good job for us. She had to take the spot of Laynie Erickson, who broke her finger two nights earlier in practice.’’
VanWeerdhuizen said Erickson, a 5-foot-8 freshman, would be out until next week and could be out longer.
“We just don’t know,’’ VanWeerdhuizen said of Erickson’s status. “She might need to have surgery. They may need to put a pin in there. We will find out Wednesday.’’
Denney, a 5-5 senior, normally plays guard but she moved into the post to fill Erickson’s role.
“She really helped out,’’ VanWeerdhuizen said. “She’s really a terror.’’
Stephens and Mills have led the way offensively for the Wildcats throughout the season. VanWeerdhuizen pointed out that La Center’s chances for postseason success could be greatly enhanced if more players chip in with contributions to the scoring, as Griffee did Thursday.
“We’ve got balanced scoring,’’ the coach said. “If we get people to the right spots we could get a few more people in there scoring. That way they couldn’t key on anybody. Shelby (Vermeulen) has to chip in and do what she can do. Bethany (Whitten) doesn’t get any press but she’s the one who holds it altogether.’’
Stephens made three 3-pointers in the win over Eatonville, Mills had six rebounds to go with her 16 points and Vermeulen had a game-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Whitley Seter added six rebounds and sophomore Molly Edwards helped the defensive effort with four steals.
VanWeerdhuizen said his players were disappointed with their 68-52 loss to Trico League-rival Kalama in the final game of the regular season. The coach hopes the sting of that defeat propels the Wildcats to greater effort and energy in the playoffs.
“I could tell in the locker room after that game they were totally upset with themselves,’’ VanWeerdhuizen said. “That told me something.’’
La Center was scheduled to play Evergreen Conference champion Montesano on Saturday in the district semifinals.
