YAKIMA — As Zillah’s potential game-tying shot bounced off the rim in the final seconds of overtime, Seton Catholic’s Riley Seymer had just one thought on her mind.
“Basically, the shot went up and like in my brain the whole time was ‘Rebound! Rebound! Rebound!’ ” the 6-foot-1 junior said. “So being able to get that and secure it was definitely like a huge relief. I got the ball and went (sigh!). OK, everybody can just like breath.”
Seymer pulled down the rebound, drew a foul then sealed the game with two free throws with 0.6 seconds left, propelling No. 6 Seton to a 69-65 overtime win against No. 3 Zillah on Saturday in the opening round of the 1A girls state tournament at Davis High School.
“It’s a big accomplishment for us,” Seymer said. “From Day 1 of this season, we’ve been talking about getting to the Dome, making it to the Dome. And now that we’re really here, we’re all super excited. We’ve all (put in) hard work for it, so it’s really good.”
The win marks Seton Catholic’s first trip to the 1A state quarterfinals and the Cougars’ first trip to the Yakima SunDome. The Cougars will play Thursday against an opponent to be determined.
But to get there, it required a battle against a veteran Zillah team.
Led by Seymer, the Cougars went on a 16-2 run in the first half to build a 35-22 lead.
Seton clung to its double-digit lead in the third despite 13-points from Zillah post Makenna Klitzke. Those points included Klitzke’s 1,000th career point despite being just a sophomore.
But it was in the fourth quarter that the Leopards charged back on Seton.
“(Zillah) can make runs like nobody else I’ve seen in the tournament right now,” Seton coach Phil Kent said. “You can be up 10, and in 60 seconds, it’s a tie game. So we knew it was going to be a battle.”
It didn’t take Zillah a minute to erase a 51-41 deficit entering the fourth quarter. But the Leopards finally caught Cougars at 63-63 on a scooping shot by Angelina Buck with 27 seconds left in regulation.
Seton Catholic had a good look to win it in regulation, but Madison Lee’s drive to the hoop rolled off the rim with 4 seconds left, sending the game into overtime.
“We knew it was going to come down to the last minutes,” Kent said. “I didn’t want it go to overtime.”
Momentum was on Zillah’s side, closing out the fourth quarter with a 12-4 run.
Baskets were hard to come by in the overtime period, but Tiffany Sheldon gave Seton a 65-63 with a jump with 1:55 to play. Klitzke quickly got the game even again at 65-65 with 1:38 to go.
After both teams missed a pair of free throws each, Lee drove to the hoop and drew a foul with 19 seconds to go. The junior hit both free throws to put Seton up 67-65.
Zillah came downcourt looking for Klitzke again. But when Seymer’s tough defense denied her the ball, Bella Valadez drove the left side of the lane and put up a shot that was off the mark.
Seymer pulled down the critical rebound, sending the Cougars to the quarterfinals.
Seymer led the Cougars (19-6) with 23 points. Lee had 16 points, Sheldon had 13 and Remy Jenniges had 10. Klitzke led Zillah with 27 points.
The win was the Cougars’ 17th in a row, making their 2-6 start a distant memory.
“I think it’s cool to see all of our hard work pay off and see us getting better to make it to state,” Lee said.
SETON CATHOLIC 69, ZILLAH 65, OT
SETON CATHOLIC (19-6) — Madison Lee 16, CJ Moore 5, Remy Jenniges 10, Tiffany Sheldon 13, Emma Whitehouse 2, Hailey Hammerstrom 0, Riley Seymer 23. Totals 25 (10) 9-11 69.
ZILLAH (20-4) — Angelina Buck 10, Callie Strong 0, Addison Johnston 12, Pagie Favilla 0, Alaina Garza 7, Bella Valadez 9, Makenna Klitzke 27. Totals 26 (1) 12-19 65.
