Meridian girls survive rugged opener at Class 1A state tourney

Meridian High School successfully returned to the girls state basketball tournament Wednesday, holding off Montesano 54-49 in a foul-plagued Class 1A game at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Meridian earned its first state tournament victory since the 2000 team placed second.

The Trojans (20-7) will face third-seeded Granger at 12:15 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals. No. 13 Meridian is the lowest remaining seed in the bracket.

For much of the game, it appeared fouls and free throws would be Meridian’s undoing. Fifth-seeded Montesano attempted 34 free throws but made only 18, missing five in a taut fourth quarter. Ironically, two free throws by Ryley Zapien with six seconds sealed the win.

Ellesse FitzGerald paced three Trojans in double figures with 15 points. Kiana Gray had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Zapien had 10 points. Meridian made 6 of 14 3-point shots, led by FitzGerald (three) and Zapien (two).

Stopping Montesano’s bruising Jordan Spradlin was a chore for Meridian and led to foul and free-throw issues. Spradlin had 17 points and 18 rebounds and was every bit the defensive challenge those numbers imply.

“I tell ya, the girls battled and battled,” Trojans coach Mark Gilmore said. “Honestly, we did a great job of stopping the initial pass, and it’s so hard to keep (Spradlin) off the glass. She’s so strong and she can go right back up.

“We did talk about not giving her ‘and-one.’ In the second half, that’s what kept them close. We just couldn’t stop them.”

Both teams struggled shooting in the first half. Compounding that problem for Meridian was the fact Montesano shot 11 free throws. The Bulldogs sank just five but, coupled with three 3-pointers for the Trojans, Meridian led 27-24 at halftime. Gray had eight points and seven rebounds in the opening half.

Fouls continued to be a problem for the Trojans in the third quarter. Spradlin scored 10 of her 12 third-quarter points from the foul line. As the quarter wound down, Spradlin dominated Meridian in the paint, and Montesano shot free throws on every infraction.

Meridian stayed ahead thanks to the 3-pointer. Zapien and FitzGerald hit one each for the Trojans in the third.

Meridian had a chance to break the game open early in the fourth quarter with a seven-point burst that created an eight-point cushion. But Josie Toyra hit a 3-pointer from the deep right corner and Spradlin sank a free throw, followed by Shayla Floch’s jumper from the right baseline.

With the Trojans’ lead down to two, FitzGerald made a jumper to extend the advantage before Zapien’s final free throws.

Meridian 54, Montesano 49

MERIDIAN: Zapien 3-11 2-3 10, Baklund 2-7 0-0 5, FitzGerald 6-14 0-0 15, Stuth 1-2 0-0 2, Gray 6-9 0-0 12, Tutterrow 1-2 0-0 2, Swanson 0-0 0-0 0, Holz 0-0 0-2 0, Harrison 0-2 2-2 2, Sipma 2-4 0-0 4, Magnusson 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-52 4-7 54.

MONTESANO: Bartlett 1-6 3-8 5, Talley 4-14 0-1 8, Toyra 3-10 2-2 11, Floch 4-10 0-1 8, Spradlin 2-7 13-22 17, Quinn 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 14-50 18-34 49.

3-point goals – Meridian 6-14 (Zapien 2-4, Baklund 1-3, FitzGerald 3-7), Montesano 3-10 (Toyra 3-7). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Meridian 32 (Gray 10, Zapien 6), Montesano 39 (Spradlin 18, Toyra 5, Floch 5). Assists – Meridian 18 (Zapien 6, FitzGerald 3), Montesano 9 (Spradlin 3, Bartlett 2, Talley 2). Turnovers – Meridian 17, Montesano 15. Total fouls – Meridian 21, Montesano 12.

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Meridian girls survive rugged opener at Class 1A state tourney."