By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

A late surge by Evergreen of White Center left the Wolverines two points shy of Highline, 38-36, in a Seamount League girls basketball game Friday.

The Wolverines had trailed, 36-24, with only 3:06 to play before staging their rally.

"Lots of energy," said Evergreen head coach Natasha Hicks McCray of the surge. "That's good. It showed a lot of character. I'm proud of the girls for staying in it."

Elizabeth Lindo scored at the 2:10 mark to close the gap to 36-26 before teammate Jackie Barker nailed a three-point shot at 1:12. Barker added a free throw after a steal by Gloria Dabairi to make it 36-30 with 51.7 seconds remaining.

Dabairi then converted a three-point cast at 28 seconds to play to close the margin to 36-33 following a jump ball that went Evergreen's way.

The Wolverines were then forced to foul Highline's Zainab Aliabdi with 20.3 seconds to go and she banked in one shot before missing the second to make it 37-33.

Evergreen then missed a three at the other end and fouled Joyce Muliaganotoa at 6.6 seconds remaining and she hit one of two attempts for a 38-33 lead.

Barker was fouled at 2.0 seconds and hit one to cut it back to 38-34 and the Pirates turned the ball back over right away to allow Barker to make a buzzer beater to close the scored to its final 38-36 margin.

Lindo led the Wolverines with 13 points as Baker scored 12, Dabairi five, Thaiasia Holloway three, Sabrina Pietron two and Veronica Martinez one.

Muliaganotoa paced the Pirates with 13 and Stella Fosberg hit 11.

"We're looking forward to the rest of the season," said Hicks McCray. "I'm encouraged to see some things come together. We're functioning better as a team."