Lake Stevens’ biggest talent sat on the bench in partial uniform.
Without Kylee Griffen, the WesCo 4A MVP, the seventh-seeded Vikings had little chance against No. 2 seed Eastlake in a Class 4A girls basketball state regional game Saturday. The Wolves won 65-49 at Bellevue College.
Eastlake (22-2) earned a bye to open the state tournament on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome. Lake Stevens (19-4) will play a loser-out game against No. 10 seed Kentlake at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
“I hope she’s somewhat playable,” said Lake Stevens coach Randy Edens of Griffen, who sprained her ankle in practice on Tuesday. She is averaging 21.5 points and 10 rebounds per game.
“She has a high level of pain tolerance but can’t get herself moving around,” Edens said. “But we really fought well.”
Vikings sophomore point guard Raigan Reed twice tried to use her three-point shot to create momentum. And twice Eastlake took offense and went on a run to further bury the Vikings.
Reed’s first attempt was a three-pointer to close an early deficit to 26-22 with 4:21 left in the second quarter. The Wolves responded with an 8-0 run to close the half.
Later, Reed’s three-pointer and a three-point play by teammate Melania Galleani shaved the deficit to single digits (43-35) with 1:55 left in the third quarter.
But Eastlake forced Lake Stevens into a shot-clock violation and senior point guard Gina Marxen used back-to-back three-point plays to help close the quarter up 51-35.
The Vikings didn’t challenge again in the game. Reed led her team with 17 points, while junior Mae Bryant (20 points) and Marxen (15) led Eastlake.