BLAINE — With the season on the line, Blaine secured a 34-33 win over Mount Baker in the opening round of the district tournament.
Trailing by a point with less than a minute left in the game, Blaine senior Hailey Pike missed a shot from right under the basket, but was able to grab her own rebound and score on a second attempt. The shot gave Blaine the lead and all the Borderites needed was one more stop on defense.
Mount Baker couldn’t get a clean shot off on the other end, prolonging Blaine’s season and ending its own.
While the late drama made for a more interesting game, it was also avoidable.
“Game-winners are always fun, but if we made some ones earlier in the second half that last one wouldn’t have mattered,” Blaine coach Ryan Pike said.
Blaine was off to the races early, jumping out to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter and forcing a timeout from Mount Baker.
The Mountaineers scored five straight points out of that timeout, all of them coming from junior Madison Barter.
Mount Baker senior Taite Reardon brought the Mountaineers within three points with a 3-pointer midway through the second quarter, but Blaine went to the locker room with a 21-15 lead at halftime.
Although both teams struggled to find the basket consistently in the third quarter, Mount Baker found it a little more. Barter converted on a 3-point play to give the Mountaineers a 21-20 lead midway through the third.
“Barter has carried our team all year,” Mount Baker coach Tiffany Ramirez said. “She is the bread and butter of our team. She is what makes everything work.”
The Mountaineers led 30-27 heading into the final quarter, but couldn’t find the clutch shot to put them ahead by more than one possession.
Ryan Pike said they just needed to settle down and limit unforced errors to get back in the game.
Switching the defense from zone to man slowed Mount Baker down enough to where the Borderites were finally able to pull down defensive rebounds and run their offense.
“We got out of position on defense and were passing the ball to the other team on offense,” he said. “We got in some set plays in the second half and were able to get Hailey the ball a little bit.”
Blaine brought it to within one with 3:23 left in the game. Both teams missed shots over the next three minutes before the game-winner from Hailey Pike.
Hailey Pike gives Blaine a 34-33 lead with 11 seconds left in the game.
Mount Baker timeout. pic.twitter.com/bpxTI9TMfr
— Hailey Palmer (@_haileypalmer_) February 9, 2022
“It feels really amazing,” she said of hitting the winning shot.
The win keeps the Borderites’ season alive. They’ll play Meridian Thursday in another loser-out contest. The winner of that game will play the loser of top-seeded Nooksack Valley and No. 2 Lynden Christian.
Mount Baker ends its season with a 4-14 record overall.
