By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Wasting no time, Evergreen dialed in to start its game against visiting Highline, who got hung up on the number four in the first quarter, as the Wolverines took an 11-point lead on the Pirates after one frame of play en route to a 43-27 win on Wednesday.

For the Wolverines, the postseason is almost here -- two regular season games left is all, one against Renton and the other against Kennedy. Wolverines win those two and they will finish second place in the Seamount League. The Pirates season looks to be over, depending on an outcome of Foster vs. Lindbergh that could get them in the playoffs. For districts, still a couple games away, coming after the finish of the Wolverines regular season, it is already known they will play either Sequim or Sammamish in the Wolverines' gym on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.

"Great start, great execution, first half," said Wolverines coach Natasha Hicks McCray.

The Wolverines called on Marleisha Cox to begin things. The 5-10 senior guard/forward scored eight of her team's 15 first-quarter points that helped her team to a 15-4 lead after one.

The Pirates weren't done, though, as in the second quarter they battled back to outscore the Wolverines, 6-2. The quarter went like this: After the Wolverines' Caroline Tupa scored two for the green team, the purple-clad Pirates, went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter. Their 5-3 senior point guard, Olivia Beckham, scoring a running, one-hander into the lane off glass, so it was 17-6 with 4:20 left in the second.
Then, after a good defensive stop, the Pirates got the ball back and senior 5-8 post Madison Kelly scored inside, driving, to make it 17-8. And 5-5 senior guard Ceaoshae Taylor got a nice jumper from outside, 15 feet away, and that made it 17-10 with a minute, or so, to go in the second quarter and that's how the score stayed going into halftime.

So, after a somewhat languid start, the Pirates made the game interesting, having cut the Wolverines' lead to under double digits going into halftime.

"That's what we do every game," said Pirates coach Darrin Stolz. "We get behind and have to get back in it. Anyway, we are always fighting back."

That was definitely true of this game, as the Pirates would fight back in more than just the second quarter.
In the third quarter, the Wolverines scored and scored and scored some more, in the opening five minutes, taking it's largest lead of the game, 26-10, on a three-point shot from their 5-6 senior point guard Tafaoga Lagerejos.

"Great leader, great ball handler, sees the court exceptionally well," said Hicks of Lagerejos.
Lagerejos shot well, without exception, in this game. She shot three three-point shots through the net. And Lagerejos would hit two bombs later in the game.

And, with five straight points, they almost were back in it, getting the Wolverines' lead, once again, down to single digits. For the comeback attempt, the Pirates, with 2:50 left in the third quarter, got a Beckham layup to make it 26-12, Wolverines. Then Beckham hit a three-point shot to further cut into the Wolverines' lead to 26-15.

"She's a senior, three-year starter," said Stolz. "She has heart, hustles all the time, always working hard, and is fun to watch."

The Pirates remained the team having more fun scoring after Beckham's three, as 5-4 freshman guard Britney Kinney got a steal. Then, the Pirates let fly a shot from behind the arc, a three ball, but it clanged off the rim and missed getting the Pirates within seven points of the Wolverines.

But, after another good job defending on its possession, the Pirates got the ball back and scored this time as Kinney hit a mid-range jumper from the right side, cutting the Wolverines' lead to 26-17 at the end of the third quarter.

"If we ever got the lead, we'd be something," said Stolz.

And Wolverines coach Hicks McCray gave the Pirates credit for making a game of it when, after the first quarter, there was, really, looking to only be anticipation to see if the Wolverines would go on to win by 20 or 30.

"We got away from our execution in the second half, quit taking care of the ball," said Hicks McCray. "Got to maintain patience and discipline. But Highline came out great after halftime, did a great job taking us out of our game."

But the comeback for the Pirates went off the plank after that, pretty much, as in the fourth quarter the Wolverines' Caroline Tupa scored eight of her team's 15 points, including the fist two points inside, upping the lead to 28-17 one minute into the fourth quarter.

"Both Marleisha and Caroline have great work ethics. They play well together," said Hicks McCray.

They filled in the gaps of scoring the first and fourth quarters quite well for their team. And, when they weren't scoring, it was Lagarejos picking up the scoring slack, hitting back to back three-pointers after Tupa's opening fourth-quarter score. That almost sealed the deal, making it a 34-19 Wolverines lead with 3:30 in the game. Things just went from bad to worse for the Pirates after that.

After the game, Tupa was congratulated. She was the top scorer in the game with 16 points. But her expression didn't change upon hearing that. It was obviously not a big deal to her.

"I don't worry about that," said Tupa. "I just want to feel like I am contributing, helping out my team."
So, this team sounds like its fun to play on.

"It's my family," said Tupa, face spreading into a grin. "So there is not anything not to like."
The big difference in this game?

"Everyone contributed," said Tupa. "Whether passes or defense, we were engaged. The team is strong as the weakest link. So everybody has to play hard."

After Tupa's game-high 16 points, Cox contributed 14, Lagarejos nine and Maria Martinez and Kindra Smith two apiece.

Highline was led by the nine of Beckham, and six of Kinney and four each from Taylor and Hovland.