Evergreen Lutheran misses chance

"Having missed out at making state by one point last year, the Evergreen Lutheran girls were looking to make the most of their first opportunity this season.Instead, Neah Bay grabbed the state berth away from the Eagles with a 65-60 victory in the Tri-District Class B tournament at Nathan Hale High School on Tuesday night.Evergreen Lutheran had another chance to go to state against Mount Vernon Christian Friday night (after press deadline).I really thought we had them with that last run, said Evergreen coach Jeff Kurbis.That run started midway through the third quarter with the Eagles down by 10 points. It ended with a put-back shot by Leah Kurbis and a 36-35 Evergreen lead.During that time, however, Neah Bay was playing without its leading scorer, Lisa Halttunen, who was benched with four fouls. Neah Bay coach Lucy Dafoe gambled by putting Halttunen back in the game late in the third quarter.Halttunen not only played the rest of the game, but she sparked the Lady Red offense with 14 of her team-high 20 points.Is that amazing, or what? Dafoe said of Halttunen not fouling out. Not even the 25-point performance by Evergreen senior Faith Kurbis could counter Halttunen's output.It was amazing. We should have defended it better, but I don't know how you could stop her, Faith Kurbis said. She was outstanding.Halttunen finished with four three-pointers. Teammate Lindsay Ritter added two and finished with 18 points. Heidi Stuebs, who scored 16 points, hit a three-pointer for the Eagles to pull the Eagles to 42-41 early in the fourth quarter. The Lady Reds then went on a 16-6 run to put the game away.Misty Jarrett added 13 points for the Lady Reds.This is the Eagles' seventh entry into the Tri-District Tournament. They've already matched their previous win total with two in the early rounds this year."

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