By Gerardo Bolong
Contributing Sports Correspondent

TACOMA - Opponent athleticism and strong rebounding mixed in with West Seattle errors enabled the Lincoln Lady Abes to fell the West Seattle Lady Wildcats 65-54 in the 9 a.m. girls basketball breakfast special on a loser-out, first round loss at the 2017 High School Class 3A Washington state tournament held at the Tacoma Dome on Wed., March 1. Lincoln moved on to a 9 a.m. quarterfinal match up against Stanwood on Thurs., March 2.
"We had early, unforced turnovers that made it hard to come back," said Lady Wildcats head coach Darnell Taylor about his young Westside group. "The defensive rebounding was also tough."

In the first quarter, the Wildcats stayed competitive to grab an 8-5 lead only to have Lincoln log five consecutive points to go on top 10-8 by the end of the quarter.

Turnovers and rebounding turned the close game into a Lady Abe dominance as the Lady Wildcats added turnovers into the mix.

Continuing to experience problems penetrating the Lincoln surprise 2-3 zone, West Seattle's world continued to be rocked with Morticia McCall's 3-pointer with five seconds remaining in the second quarter upping the Lady Abe lead to 33-15 before the halftime intermission. The Abes shot 12-of-23 from the floor.

WS established a 43-20 margin with 3:11 remaining in the third quarter before a Jazz Gayles basket ahead of a Kelsey Lenzie trey narrowed the deficit to 46-30 en route to a 48-31 Lincoln lead after three quarters.
The Lady Wildcats continued to scuffle away with pressure defense to keep the fight going. Grace Sarver notched a free throw and a driving lay up sandwiched around Izzy Turk's 3-point bomb as West Seattle brought its disadvantage within 52-40 as just more than five minutes showed in regulation.

Although Lincoln lengthened its leads to high double digits, West Seattle showed plenty of fight to keep gnawing away at the disadvantage, closing with 11 points three times - including the final score.

The early damage was so great, the mountainous path to a WS victory was just too much to navigate.
"They just played harder than us in the first half," said Lady Wildcat guard Sarver who was effective for 16 points on 6-of-10 from regular field range with four steals credited to her column. "lmao should be good."

Gayles was also effective with 13 points on 5-of-10 from the field. Jenna McPhee and Turk had nine points apiece.
McCall was just plainly devastating against West Seattle with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Lady Abe player had 13 points and four steals. Also in double figures scoring for the Lady Abes was Faith Brantley with 12.

Lincoln climbed the boards for 35 caroms against West Seattle's 26. On the offensive board, Lincoln led 17-8.
West Seattle closed out its season at 20-8 while graduating only Izzy Turk. Ellie Turk, Kelsie Lenzie, Rilcy Newsome, Jenna McPhee, Jazz Gayles, Braeden Swanson, Grace Sarver, Jayla Wilson, Meghan Fiso and Anissa Babitu are all eligible to return next season.