Othello takes 33-31 state playoff win
Annalee Coronado (4) beats the first line of Lynden defense on her way to the basket. Othello defeated Lynden 33-31 for a 2A state tournament win.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
In a game marked by intense defense, Othello’s Emi Pruneda (50) watches the Lynden player and the ball. Othello defeated Lynden 33-31 to advance to the 2A state quarterfinals.
Briana Andrade (3) works to drive past Lynden’s Haylee Koetje.
Annalee Coronado, front, goes up for the shot against Lynden in Wednesday’s 33-31 Othello win.
Othello players celebrate their win.
Othello’s Emi Pruneda (50) puts the ball up in the Huskies’ 33-31 2A girls state tournament win.
Braid flying, Annalee Coronado (4) drives toward the basket.
YAKIMA — The Othello Huskies used tough defense and hit a couple of critical free throws to defeat the Lynden Lions 33-31 and advance to the quarterfinals of the 2A Girls State Basketball tournament Wednesday.
The Huskies took a three-point lead on a single free throw from Riley Farman with about one minute left in the game; Lynden scored to cut the lead to one. A free throw from Annalee Coronado put Othello up by two with eight seconds left. A Lynden shot at the buzzer fell short.
It was the first time the Othello girls basketball team has won a game at the Sundome since 2009, and Othello Coach Adolfo Coronado took a moment to appreciate it.
“No words can describe it. It still doesn’t feel real right now,” Coronado said after the game.
The game was a defensive battle all the way, with the first Othello basket not coming until the 2:59 mark of the first quarter. Lynden jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Othello came back to lead 8-7 at the end of the quarter.
“The girls came to play,” Coronado said. “We told them, ‘Look, we don’t think they’ve seen a defense the way we play, or the way we can play, all season.’ We were going to give them the toughest D that we could give them. They did it. They did for the whole 32 minutes.”
Othello took a six-point lead, 13-7, but Lynden fought back to cut it to 16-15 with about three minutes to play in the second quarter. Othello led 22-20 at the half.
The Huskies took a 28-20 lead on two three-pointers by Annalee Coronado, but Lyden fought back again. Othello led 29-25 at the end of the third quarter. Both teams played tough defense throughout the fourth quarter, with Othello forcing Lynden into a 30-second shot clock violation on one play, and Lynden returning the favor by forcing Othello to put up a couple of shots right at the 30-second buzzer.
“Kudos to them – they played really good D too. They were not going to let (Briana Andrade) and (Riley Farman) go off. They played them really close,” he said. “It surprised me - they played (Annalee Coronado) a lot one on one, but they still collapsed to the middle, so she had to rely on dishing it to the open person (whose) defender was coming over to help.”
Othello had some success early in the game finding Rubi Mondragon and Emi Pruneda down low, he said.
“They were getting such easy layins, and we were finding them early,” he said. “But they adjusted, and we had to adjust, and – man, it was just tough. A nailbiter.”
It was Othello’s first time at the state tournament in a long time, and Coronado said it had an effect.
“A lot of nerves. First time in a big old dome like this, a lot of fans – very nervous. I could tell they were. But they let their defense settle them down.”
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
