BY GERARDO BOLONG
Contributing Writer

TACOMA - When push came to shove, Jasmine Gayles and the ever-shocking defense sent the West Seattle girls basketball team to where no Wildcat girls squad has ever gone after a grueling 46-40 quarterfinal win of the 2018 3A Girls basketball Hardwood Classic against Metro League rival Seattle Prep on Thurs., March 1.

It created a three-game sweep of this year's series against the Panthers, but more importantly moved the team on to higher achievements.

Crashing the boards constantly against much taller opposition, Gayles out performed the inner area defense of the Panthers on a variety of put backs and driving shots in the fourth quarter on the way to 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats

"We're small," said WSHS head coach Darnell Taylor. "Our tallest player Meghan Fiso is five-foot, eleven in firemen's boots. "I had a pep talk with Jasmine and Kelsey Lenzie before the game. They're two of our most explosive players."

Taylor had more to say about Gayles.

"She is one of the underrated players because of the three studs we have," he continued. "She is feisty and can definitely get after it."

This win at the Tacoma Dome earned West Seattle (23-5) its first ever semifinal girls game in school history and Gig Harbor will be the state semifinal opponent for the Wildcats in a Friday 9 p.m tip off at the same location. Seattle Prep (19-6) dropped into a loser-out game against Bethel.

"That was a little nerve-wracking," added Taylor. "I told the girls we need to focus on putting teams away when we get them down. Execution on the defensive end is always our main focus. Effort...is the word we break the huddles with."

Leading 42-35, following back to back put backs from Gayles,  senior Rilcy Newsome's two offensive rebounds kept possession for the Wildcats' Kelsey Lenzie to score on an outside basket with 2 minutes, 14 seconds showing in the fourth quarter to extend the West Seattle margin to 44-35.

Floundering down the stretch with four turnovers, the Westsiders faced rugged retaliation from the Panthers.

Seattle Prep pushed back starting with a Lily Teders three - point goal. Bea Franklin stole an inbounds pass and scored on a lay up following two missed West Seattle free throws as the Wildcat lead turned into a truly tense 44-40 edge with 56 seconds to go.

On the next Wildcat possession, Franklin stole the ball again, but the Panthers were unable to score and finally had to resort to continual fouling until Gayles converted two free throws after another offensive rebound to close out the scoring with 26 seconds remaining in the game.
Grace Sarver was solid on defensive rebounds in the fourth quarter while senior Newsome toiled well on the boards and scored a basket in her two-minute stint on the court to aid the Wildcat efforts in keeping the Panthers at bay.

Meghan Fiso started the game on fire for West Seattle by scoring the first eight Wildcat points including a pair of three-pointers and Gayles notched the next six as WS transitioned well into a 14-6 lead after one quarter.
Fiso finished with 12 points and three steals.

The Wildcat shooting, which was somewhat dicey at times, fell off to trigger a flip the switch second quarter for Prep which sent the Panthers into a 19-18 second quarter lead before Grace Sarver torched a top of the key three.
Franklin's drive to hoop resulted in a three-point play that had Seattle Prep ahead at the half, 22-21.

Prep held a rebounding advantage that also enabled it to put up more shots.
Gayles worked her way to an inside basket midway through the third quarter to give the Westsiders the lead for good at 27-26 and moments later duplicated the effort for a 29-26 advantage that eventually grew to 36-28 on a put back basket as 42.3 seconds showed on the clock as part of an 11-2 rush to the end of the third quarter with WS in charge at 36-31.
It was Sarver who released for a running lay up to initiate the fourth quarter, but Franklin answered with a Panther basket.
At this point, the Wildcats caught fire again.
Gayles powered home back- to-back offensive rebound baskets and West Seattle stood strongly with a 42-33 control that was enough to hold off the final Seattle Prep challenge.

Sarver was a solid rock in the fourth quarter on the defensive rebounding end before closing out the game with 10 points and 10 caroms.

After the game, Gayles, who shot 8-of-12 from the field, described her role on this talented squad.

"I feel like we all have our jobs, and my job is to sometimes get my team those extra possessions, and feel like working hard to get those is what I need to do for my team," she said. "Our team is small. If I can do that for my team to get us some extra energy, that's what I like to do. I like it. It always feels good to get a board, knowing that I worked for it and then, I got it. "

On finally getting to the semifinals, her feeling was even stronger.

"It feels good to do this...we've spent our whole season getting ready for this," she concluded. "We know we belong here. We've been working really hard to get here. To put the pieces together finally really feels good."

Newsome hustled to four rebounds and scored two points in her two-minute, fourth-quarter stint that kept the Westsiders in a positive flow on the court. Lenzie rang up two points while Horne also posted two West Seattle points.