Meridian girls fall to Granger, meet familiar foe next
Granger’s stifling defense held Meridian to 24 points through three periods and stellar guard Alexis Castro sealed the Spartans’ 56-35 win at the free-throw line Thursday in the Class 1A state high school girls basketball tournament at the SunDome.
No. 13 seed Meridian (20-8) will play league rival No. 2 Lynden Christian on Friday at 10:30 a.m. in a loser-out game. The winner will advance to the fourth-place game on Saturday morning. A win would guarantee Meridian a trophy for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
The teams played twice during the regular season, with the Lyncs winning both times.
Against third-seeded Granger, Meridian’s Kyrin Baklund had 14 points and Kiana Gray snared 12 rebounds.
Trailing 37-16 at halftime, the Trojans clamped down in the third period, holding Granger to three points. But Meridian managed just eight and entered the final period trailing 40-24.
“We did a good job in the third quarter. I think they had one bucket and we were getting the ball back, but we just could not get any flow on offense,” Meridian coach Mark Gilmore said. “I give them credit. They come out and they defend you on the perimeter well. They deserve credit for that.”
Enter Castro. The 5-foot-2 senior hit 12 of 13 free throws in the final period on her way to a tournament-record 17 made free throws and another Granger trip to the semifinals.
Meridian didn’t muster a field goal in the final 4:41.
“I’ve watched her for a couple of years and she has the ability to control the game,” Gilmore said of Castro. “If you come out and defend her on the perimeter ... then she takes the ball up the court and can get to the rack.”
Granger did exactly that, isolating Castro up high and then letting her attack the basket.
“We just couldn’t rotate fast enough to get her stopped,” Gilmore said. “She’ll either get to the rim or make a great pass. We talked about all the stuff they do, but she’s a little bit faster than what we can handle off the drive.”
Granger 56, Meridian 35
Meridian | 4 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 35 |
Granger | 14 | 23 | 3 | 16 | 56 |
MERIDIAN — Ryley 0-2 0-2 0, Baklund 4-16 4-6 14, FitzGerald 1-8 0-0 2, Stuth 0-0 0-0 0, Gray 2-5 0-1 4, Tutterrow 1-3 0-0 2, Swanson 1-2 0-0 3, Holz 0-1 1-2 1, Harrison 0-3 2-2 2, Sipma 3-5 1-2 7, Magnusson 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-45 8-15 35.
GRANGER — N. Roettger 2-6 0-0 5, Blodgett 3-8 0-0 7, Alexis Castro 4-13 17-21 25, Vasquez 4-6 0-0 9, E. Stewart 2-7 0-0 4, K. Roettger 0-1 0-0 0, Rodriguez 0-0 0-0 0, Tiel 2-6 0-0 4, Brien 1-1 0-0 2, Chavez 0-0 0-0 0, L. Stewart 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 17-21 56.
3-point goals - Meridian 3-14 (Baklund 2-8, Swanson 1-2); Granger 3-14 (N. Roettger 1-2, Blodgett 1-4, Vasquez 1-3). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Meridian 36 (Gray 12, Baklund 6); Granger 31 (Castro 7, Blodgett 6). Assists - Meridian 8 (Ryley 3, Gray 2, Harrison 2); Granger 10 (N. Roettger 3, Blodgett 2, Castro 2). Turnovers - Meridian 24, Granger 13. Total fouls - Meridian 14, Granger 13.
This story was originally published March 2, 2017 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Meridian girls fall to Granger, meet familiar foe next."