Huskies move on to Yakima with 45-39 win over Mark Morris

ELLENSBURG – Down by three points entering the fourth quarter, Othello senior Annalee Coronado scored nine of her team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to take down No. 15 seed Mark Morris 45-39 in the regional round of the 2A State Girls Basketball Tournament.

The win sent the No. 10 seed Huskies to the state tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome on Wednesday.

“I’m floating right now,” Coronado said with a laugh. “I’m floating after every win, but especially this one. We wanted to get past this one, that way we could go to the dome.”

Both teams had trouble seeing shots fall in the first half, but the Huskies were able to take a 20-15 lead. Mark Morris outscored Othello 13-5 in the third quarter to take a 28-25 lead into the final eight minutes.

“To me, they looked out of sync,” Othello Head Coach Adolfo Coronado said. “They looked nervous. It’s a huge game, we’ve never been here before. All these games are huge, we’ll probably have to battle that the first game in the SunDome. Big arena, a lot of people watching. It’ll be a little bit of awe, but I’m hoping they learn from this one – it’s just basketball.”

The fourth quarter began with a three-pointer by junior Riley Farman that sparked a quick 10-0 Huskie run over a two-and-a-half minute span. Senior Briana Andrade followed Farman’s three with a steal that turned into a layup in transition.

“The nerves were definitely up because it is our first state game, and we’ve been hearing a lot about ‘Just relax, just relax,” Farman said. “It’s easier said than done, definitely. I think when I relax I shoot my best, so just going out there and knowing how I play and playing to the best of my ability was the best thing I could do.”

Othello found success in turning over the Monarchs to start the fourth quarter, which allowed them to go on their 10-0 run.

“When we start playing our style of defense – which is aggressive and jumping up in their face, not allowing them to see the court as well – we start getting turnovers,” Adolfo Coronado said. “And those turnovers, the energy level just gets going.”

Mark Morris managed to tie the game at 39 with 1:03 left on the clock, but a floater by Annalee Coronado gave Othello a 41-39 lead with under a minute left.

“I’ve practiced for so long that I knew, eventually, they’d start to fall,” Annalee Coronado said. “The fourth quarter, I knew that we needed some points. I knew we needed to get going because we had a really slow beginning of the game. I just thought, ‘You need to get going.’ Eventually, (the shots) fell.”

The Othello faithful in the crowd at Ellensburg High School made their voices heard throughout the game, including chants of “M-V-P” during Annalee Coronado’s final two free throws to seal the game away. The senior was named the Central Washington Athletic Conference’s Player of the Year in girls basketball this season.

“It helps our energy,” Annalee Coronado said. “The beginning of our season, we didn’t have much of a student section, we didn’t have a lot of a crowd in Othello. The more we’ve been winning, the more people have been coming. It’s a lot better with a bunch of supporters.”

Adolfo Coronado credited junior Stephanie Gonzalez for being able to step in and play crucial minutes for the Huskies on Friday night.

“(Gonzalez) stepped up big, she handled her own,” he said. ‘For not getting a lot of minutes during the season, she did amazing today. Kudos to her.”

Othello moved on to play the loser of the regional matchup between No. 2 Lynden and No. 7 White River.

“It’s surreal,” Adolfo Coronado said. “I told the girls, a (win) is a (win). It doesn’t matter how you played – what happened is we’re moving on.”

The Huskies tip-off in the first round of the 2A Girls State Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“We’re moving on, still alive,” Adolfo Coronado said. “Making history.”

Ian Bivona can be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box Score

Huskies 8-12-5-20 45

Monarchs 3-12-13-11 39