By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
It was time to attack relentlessly for the Foster girls basketball team on Fri., Feb. 1, in Tukwila.
Shadowing tightly and double teaming on defense, the Bulldogs left the Fife Trojans without footholds to climb back into contention during an SPSL 2A tournament 66-38 semifinal win. The Bulldogs (18-2) moved on to a title match up against White River on Sat., Feb. 2, in a 4 p.m. game at Foss High School while also qualifying to host a West Central District tournament game at 7 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 9.
Fife (13-9) has a game for third/4th place.
”My shots were falling in the first half and my team got momentum,” said senior guard Makana Montoya, who scored 12 first half points on four three-balls along with spearheading the opportunistic defense. “Our goal was to really work hard on defense. A lot of us played at district last year and that experience helps us.”
Montoya totaled 18 points for the game.
Strong three-point shooting and strong transitioning pushed Foster to a 13-5 lead that morphed into a 21-14 margin after the first quarter.
After establishing a 10-point advantage, the Bulldogs briefly dropped off as the Trojans cut a 24-14 deficit to 27-22 with 3:18 until the half.
Montoya’s nice feed to Kaimyla Nolen ignited a 7-2 Foster dash into a 34-24 halftime clearance.
The Bulldogs kept forcing the pace to balloon the difference to 22 points in the third quarter.
Unlike its last game agains Fife, when the Trojans nearly erased a 17-point lead, the Foster Bulldogs never let up. The reserves increased the lead to a game-high 28 points on Monica Hiung’s long, banking three-point goal - her only points of the game.
”We’re playing playoff basketball and I’m happy about how we’re feeling,” said Foster head coach Eric Smith.
Nolen scored 12 first half points on the way to 14. Precious Serafica gunned in 13 points and Diyhani Frazier rebounded strongly to score nine points. Eight out of nine available players scored. Point guard Meera Santos added five as Cassie Fiapito and Amerie Pastores had two points apiece.
Aliya Hunter played solidly all four quarters for Fife to score 18. Breanna Hernandez added 11 points.
