WIAA State Tourney Round 1: West Seattle vs. Arlington (Recap)

Nars Martinez

February 27, 2019 @ 05:33 PM

The number 8 seed West Seattle faced number 9 seed Arlington in a big loser out game. West Seattle has gotten plenty of publicity over the course of this season (rightfully so) but Arlington came into this game with plenty of confidence, even coming off a 9 point loss to the number one 3A team, Prairie HS. Arlington showed zero fear matched up against West Seattle's three Division 1 committed players. 2021 5'6 G Hailey Hiatt was very impressive for Arlington right from the start. She handled the ball with supreme confidence and shoots it with the same amount of confidence as well. 2019 5'8 SG Grace Sarver (WSU signee) was aggressive attacking the basket and 2020 5'10 SF Meghan Fiso showed off her patent mid-range shot and extended out to the 3-line as well. Arlington really likes to press and they did just that, forcing the tempo to go up. West Seattle has plenty of speed themselves, so it made for a fun first half with both teams trapping. The score heading into half time was 28-21 with West Seattle leading. 2019 5'7 G Jasmine Gayles came out attacking in the second half, as she does every game it seems. The aggressive guard rebounds with the trees and really competes. With West Seattle's Meghan Fiso in foul trouble throughout the game, the Wildcats lost the one player who had a height advantage on the entire floor. Arlington kept the press coming, but WS kept getting the ball to Gayles in the middle where she was scoring at will right down the lane. 2021 5'6 G Abbey Hassing was impressive in the third quarter with her communication on the defensive end and her heady ball handling on offense. Just when it felt like WS was pulling away in the third and start of the fourth, Arlington would come storming back, scoring off of turnovers. A three ball by Arlington's Hailey Hiatt closed the gap to 2, with a score of 46-44. A made free throw by Josie Stupey cut West Seattle's lead to one with 1:20 left. A drive and pass by WS G Grace Sarver led to a layup and that sealed up the win after a missed three by Arlington. A very competitive game, but West Seattle just had a little bit more this afternoon! West Seattle will play Mt. Spokane at 2pm tomorrow.