I covered the much-anticipated (by people who anticipate such things) girls basketball tilt between West Seattle and Bishop Blanchet on Wednesday for The Seattle Times. You can read the game story here.
Now, a few spare thoughts on the showdown between the city of Seattle’s two finest teams:
-The main attraction Wednesday night was the battle between Blanchet forward Jadyn Bush, the leading scorer in Metro, and West Seattle center Lydia Giomi, last year’s league MVP. So it was a shame to see Bush pick up three fouls in the game’s first four minutes and spend the rest of the first half on the bench. She then picked up a quick fourth early in the third quarter. Bush finally got going in the fourth, when she scored all six of her points and guided the Braves back to within single-digits, but the damage had been done.
From what I did see, Bush seems to have nice touch around the basket and moves really well for a near-6-footer, but tough to get much of a read in less than 10 minutes of floor time.
-Jillese Bush — a sophomore who I can only assume is senior Jadyn’s younger sister — ended up battling with Giomi for most of the night before going down with an ankle injury in the second half. She gave the Braves very solid rebounding and defense in a tough situation.
-Blanchet’s best player by far, at least on this night, was guard Taylor Chambers. The 5-4 junior scored 11 points and was a calming presence against the Wildcats’ high-pressure defense — she seemed to be the stopgap preventing things from really getting out of hand in the third quarter.
-West Seattle, though — this was my second time watching the Wildcats play, and I’ve come away extremely impressed both times. Having a monster in the middle like Giomi (14 points, 20 rebounds) is a great starting point, but the team is talented top-to-bottom. Freshmen guards Jenna McPhee and Grace Sarver are both rock-solid. McPhee stepped into the starting lineup after usual point guard Izzy Turk had missed much of the week due to an illness and ran the team with aplomb. At all times, all five Wildcats on the floor can handle the ball, and they never seem to be flummoxed by pressure.
-Blanchet began the night sandwiching Giomi with a double-team on every possession, but quickly got away from it. The rest of the Wildcats are just too dangerous. They scored a couple easy putback buckets after two or three defenders descended on Giomi, the senior missed her shot, and another Wildcat (usually Lexi Ioane) was standing all alone for an offensive rebound.
-Moral of the story: West Seattle was the clearly the better team on Wednesday, in every facet, but it was on its home floor, and Blanchet’s best player spent the game in debilitating foul trouble. If both teams take care of business in the Metro tournament and they meet again for the league title on Feb. 12 at Ingraham High School, it may be an entirely different story.