OLYMPIA, Wash. – Playing her final game at CRC gymnasium, Danielle Swain (Rainier, Wash./Black Hills HS) blocked a game-tying three point attempt with just seconds to go as the Evergreen Geoducks held off the Southern Oregon Raiders, 68-65, in a Cascade Conference women’s basketball game on Saturday night at CRC Gymnasium.
The Raiders (19-9, 8-8 CCC) took the initial lead as Ashley Claussen hit a three-pointer to open the game. Swain tied things up for the Geoducks (6-15, 5-12 CCC) two possessions later but it wouldn’t be until the 4:42 mark that Evergreen found themselves back on top as Jessica Denmon (Oak Harbor, Wash./Skagit Valley CC) hit a jumper to put the Geoducks up, 22-21.
Evergreen managed to build the lead up to six but the Raiders put together a mini-run towards end of the period to close the gap to three at halftime, 34-31. The Geoducks had one of their strongest shooting halves of the year in the first period, sinking 12-of-27 attempts for 44.4%, including four-of-six behind the arc.
In the second half, Evergreen held on to the lead up the 12:15 makr as Allison Gida hit a pair of free throws to tie the game for the fourth time. The Geoducks dug deep and pushed the lead to nine points with seven minutes to go but the Raiders weren’t giving up that easy, pulling within one on a jumper by Carly Meister with 17 seconds left to play.
The Geoducks sprinted down the court as Sammi Clark (Monroe, Wash./Edmonds CC) put in a layup to give Evergreen a three-point lead at 68-65 with just 15 seconds left to play. Southern Oregon brought the ball down the court and after a pair of timeouts, put the ball in the hands of Melissa Sweat at the top of the key but Swain got a hand on the ball for the sixth time in the game as time expired to give the Geoducks the win.
Evergreen was led by 18 points from Clark. Swain finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks. Sadee Jones (Belfair, Wash./North Mason HS) added 11 points and 11 rebounds in the winning effort. The Geoducks finished the game shooting 42.1% from the field, making 24-of-57 attempts on the night.
Southern Oregon was led by 16 points off the bench from Alexi Smith. Meister added 12 points and 11 rebounds to collect the double-double while Claussen and Sweat finished with 10 points each. The Raiders shot well from the charity stripe, sinking 20-of-27 attempts to keep the game tight.
The Geoducks hit the road next Saturday to wrap up the regular season with a game at Northwest. Tip with the Eagles is set for 5:30 p.m. in Kirkland, Wash.