Davenport makes most of fourth chance against Northwest Christian to reach semis | State 2B girls

In three previous matchups against Northwest Christian this season, Davenport’s defense hadn’t been the problem.

On Thursday, when the Gorillas got a fourth chance at the Crusaders, the defense was once again effective – and so, finally, was the offense.

Senior Glenna Soliday led Davenport with 20 points, senior Clare Lathrop added 11 and the ninth-seeded Gorillas upset the Crusaders 46-35 in the State 2B girls basketball quarterfinals at Spokane Arena.

“We’ve been working for this. We knew we could beat them,” Soliday said. “They’re a great team, and we just believed in ourselves, and that’s how it went.”

It was the second straight 20-point game for Soliday, who had 25 in a first-round victory over No. 8 Mount Vernon Christian. Against Northwest Christian, this year’s No. 2 seed and the defending state champions, Soliday made 6 of 16 shots from the field and 5 of 6 free throws.

Lathrop, who was 5-for-9 from the field and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, said playing the day before helped the Gorillas (23-5) feel comfortable early on against the Crusaders (22-2).

“We were already used to the gym and the lights and all of that,” she said.

The 35 points were a season-low for Northwest Christian, which earlier this year defeated Davenport by 10, 17 and 16 points, including a 54-38 victory on Feb. 18 in the Northeast 2B League tournament.

But on Thursday, the Crusaders didn’t find a consistent rhythm offensively.

“I think we struggled to really get going because our shots weren’t quite falling like they used to, and morale took a nosedive,” NWC head coach Nikki Nelson said. “We never fully got it together as a team.”

After the first quarter, Northwest Christian never led, but it remained within six points into the fourth quarter.

But after a basket by Faith Hamilton cut Davenport’s lead to 35-29, Soliday hit a pair of free throws, and then freshman Taylor LeBret hit a 3 in the corner to push Davenport’s lead to double digits, 40-29, with three minutes to go.

The Crusaders answered with a 6-0 run, but then never again got closer than five points. Senior Macey Shamblin led NWC with 17 points (6-for-10 from the field) and sophomore Julianna Pope added 10 points.

As a team, NWC made just 1 of 9 3-point attempts, while Davenport made 5 of 13 3s.

Davenport will meet No. 5 Reardan (22-5) – which defeated the Gorillas in December and again in January – in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the girls,” Davenport head coach Dusty Oestreich said. “We’re on this roll of winning games, and we’re going to keep riding that as long as we can.”