Isaak's late shot, 26 points, leads ACH

YAKIMA — Only 24 hours earlier Almira/Coulee-Hartline’s sophomore guard Madeline Isaak struggled all night to get her shooting rhythm.

Still Isaak and the Lady Warriors were able to advance to last night’s quarterfinal against a strong Sunnyside Christian team.

But this time Isaak’s rhythm was in boogie-mode.

Isaak’s jumper with just over a minute to go capped a 26-point night and ACH  was able to hold on for a 59-57 win over the Lady Knights and advance to tonight’s semifinal against Pateros (18-6).

The Lady Warriors will tip off at  8 p.m. with a shot to play for a berth in Saturday’s Class 1B state championship game.

Isaak finished nine-for-17 from the field and hit four three-pointers.

The fifth-ranked Knights (19-5) may have been the underdogs coming in to the contest but the third-ranked ACH squad ended up in a tight contest.

Both teams exchanged punches and neither squad led by more than seven points.

The turning point may have come late in the third quarter with Sunnyside Christian up 41-35 on a Kelly Newhouse layup with just under three minutes to play.

ACH (22-3) would go on a 11-1 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to recapture momentum and the lead, 46-42.

But of course the Knights wouldn’t roll over that easy.

ACH junior Sarah Gloyn hit a three-pointer with 6:30 left to give ACH a 51-46 lead and then the Knights got back to work.

Over the next two-plus minutes they would grind out a 6-0 run to take the lead 52-51.

They would build it to 55-53 on a three-pointer with a little over two minutes left and would watch ACH tie it at 55 on a Nikki Osborne putback.

Sunnyside Christian would take the lead back up to 57-55 before Isaak scored seconds later on a coast-to-coast layup which would set the stage for her game winner moments later.

ACH held on to the win as the Knights missed two three-pointers right before the buzzer to see their chance to advance slip away.

Osborne scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Gloyn tallied 10 points for ACH in the win.

Pateros, a member of the North Central Washington League, advanced to the semifinals with a 42-28 win over North Sound Christian in last night’s final quarterfinal of the evening.