LA CONNER — Unlike many playoff teams, the Lady Knights have been playing on the brink of elimination for the past three weeks.

But after seven straight victories, Highland Christian took a 45-32 loss to Lopez Island on the hardwood in the second round of the tri-district tournament Feb. 15.

“You can only play like every game might be your last for so long,” said Highland Christian coach Steve Brown. “They put in so much energy to get here and we pulled ourselves into the postseason.”

The Knights finished the regular season with a 6-6 record in the Northwest 1B Conference, but needed to five straight to earn No. 3 seed and keep their season alive.

A win against Lopez would have put the Knights in the tri-district championship game and earned a state berth. Instead, the Knights will competed for one of the two remaining state spots, needing a win against Quilcene to get it.

Against Lopez, Highland Christian played like a team that had been playing for their livelihood for more than two weeks and just needed a break.

“I thought we got outhustled in just about every area of the game,” said Brown. “Not on every play, obviously, but in rebounding on both sides and to loose balls.”

The Knights were never really able to get into a rhythm offensively, and it wasn’t because of Lopez’s pressure, but because of a stagnant attack.

“We were not helping our point guard,” said Brown. “We weren’t cutting to the basket or fighting to get open.”

Meanwhile, Lopez’s duo of Erin Dye and Sarah Stanley combined for 35 points and gave Highland trouble all game.

Highland trailed 19-11 at halftime and was able to knock that lead down to just 19-15 after a couple of quick second-half buckets, but that is as close as it would get.

Leading the way for the Knights was Esther Brown with 10 points while Jade Olin added seven.
The Class 1B state tournament is March 3-5 at the Spokane Arena.