Kennedy Catholic's quest for a repeat Class 3A girls basketball championship came to a crashing end on Thursday, March 11, in the quarterfinals of the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
With the shot clock winding down in a 50-50 deadlock, Hailey Gullstad drove the lane and threw up a shot that barely rose above the front to give Mercer Island a 52-50 lead against Kennedy Catholic.
Facing similar situations throughout the season, the fighting Lancers turned once again to senior Yaz Fuller, who has made numerous key shots in her career.
After a time out, Fuller attempted a running jumper in the lane that bounced off the front of the rim. A tip-in try by Aminah Williams failed to drop and the Islander upset was complete, even as Fuller and Williams collapsed to the floor in grief and disbelief.
Kennedy Catholic led most of the game, utilizing athleticism, quickness and patient passing that led to driving layins or materialized in clear outside shots.
After establishing a 29-19 control with 2:39 left in the second quarter, the Lancers ran off to a 37-24 less than three minutes into the second half. Behind the efforts of Heidi Black, Sarah Taylor and Jae Shin, the Islanders sailed back to trail only 37-33 before Aminah Williams sandwiched two field goals around a Gullstad driving bucket to up Kennedy's lead to 43-35 entering the fourth quarter.
Kennedy grew its margin to 10 points at 49-39 before watching its offense dwindle away. The previously stranded Islanders defused the Kennedy offense and drew within two points at 49-47 with less than two minutes remaining befoe Hannah Lilly buried a three-pointer from the right wing to send Mercer Island ahead for the fist time at 50-49.
With 43.3 seconds remaining, Kennedy's Allie Madison converted the second of two free throws to tie the game at 50.
Kennedy head coach Tom Mummert shook his head after the Mercer Island comeback.
"You can't let them have open shots," he declared. "We didn't defend the threes."
Fuller led the Lancers with 15 points, while Madison stood out with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Williams corralled 14 rebounds with 10 points.
Jae Shin and Heidi Black led the Islanders with 12 points each.
