The Silverdale Lady Seahawks didn’t waste any time taking care of business Monday night.
Facing the Lakeway Christian Lady Lions in the quarterfinal round of the region basketball tournament at the Silverdale Center, Taylor Bledsoe bagged a 3 in the first minute and Silverdale never looked back as they scored the first seven points of the game and 21 of the first 23 for a commanding 21-2 lead when the first quarter ended.
The Lady Lions were a bit more competitive in the final three quarters, but that opening eight minutes was the difference as the Lady Seahawks wanted to prove a point and they did so quite well as they rolled to a convincing 60-36 victory.
“I thought we got off to a good start, but we still didn’t execute offensively like I had wanted,” said Silverdale head coach Victor Underwood after his team improved to 27-5 overall with their 10th straight win and 17th victory in the past 18 games.
“I felt like we had the better team at the start and we didn’t want to give them any chance of winning, so that strong start was really important as we basically did what we had to do to win and advance.
“All 10 players on our bench contributed as they all have a role, but we just have to keep playing hard as it gets harder the rest of the way,” he added.
Senior Kelsie Johnson and freshman Kinsley Owen combined to score 18 of those first 21 points and ended the game with 41 as they personally outscored the Lady Lions, whose season ended at 12-16.
Kami Wilson did her absolute best to keep Lakeway in the game as she scored 22 points in the final three quarters, but Ellie Linx was the only other Lakeway player in double figures with 10.
Meanwhile, seven straight points by the Lady Seahawks, including a 3 from Johnson and two layups from Owen, gave Silverdale its biggest lead of the half at 32-11.
Wilson converted a three-point play in the final minute to trim the difference to 32-14 at intermission.
Ella Canter scored the first six points of the second half as Silverdale’s lead swelled to 38-14 while the biggest lead of the game came at 26 points twice in the final two quarters.
A layup by Owen made it 44-18 with 4:33 left in the third stanza while a steal and another layup by the super-quick Owen made it 55-29 with 3:47 left.
Owen set the pace with 22 points while Johnson was next with 19. Wilson and Linx were the leading scorers for Lakeway.
Silverdale also had a commanding and unofficial 38-20 advantage in rebounding. Owen and Johnson both grabbed nine while Braylee Raby had eight and Bledsoe six. Wilson and Linx both had five for the Lady Lions.
Silverdale advances to play The King’s Academy, 52-38 winners over Notre Dame, in the second girls semifinal, which will be played at 4 p.m. on Friday.
BOYD BUCHANAN also won at home on Monday as the Lady Bucs held off to defeat Knoxville Grace, 51-48.
The Lady Bucs raced to an 18-3 lead after one quarter, but had to hang on at the end as Grace made it interesting by outscoring the home team 16-8 in the final eight minutes.
Jada Sanders scored 19 points to lead the Lady Bucs while Lesley Burton added 12. Boyd Buchanan will play CAK, 64-7 winners over Grace, in the second semifinal at Silverdale on Friday at 7 p.m.
LAKEWAY CHRISTAN 2 12 13 9 -- 36
SILVERDALE 21 11 14 14 -- 60
LAKEWAY (36) – Kami Wilson 22, Sawyer, Hasty 2, Bloomquist 2, Whetzel, Ellie Linx 10, Blair.
SILVERDALE (60) – Canter 6, Bledsoe 5, K. Littrell 2, Raby 4, McFarland, Kinsley Owen 22, Hensley 1, A. Littrell 1, Kelsie Johnson 19, Cline.
3-Point Goals: Lakeway 2 (Linx 2); Silverdale 3, (Canter, Bledsoe, Johnson).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)