By SVERRE BAKKE
The Enterprise
For the second time in four years, the Lyle girls basketball team is in the mix that will determine who plays for the Class B championship this Saturday night on the Spokane Arena's center court.
The Cougars (20-3) opened the 2003 tournament Wednesday morning against the Naselle Comets (22-1), the No.-2 entry out of Southwest Washington's District 4.
Lyle, Champion of the Yakima Valley's District 5, is making its fourth Class B Classic appearance. The last time it went to state, in 2000, it came away with the third-place trophy.
Last Saturday, it had a 10-game winning streak snapped by District 6 titlist Kittitas in the championship game of the Central Washington Regional Tournament in Ellensburg.
The Cougars absorbed their worst defeat of the season, losing to the unbeaten Coyotes, 67-36.
"Kittitas is an exceptional team. They really exposed our weaknesses," Cougars Coach Verlyn Smith noted, then added: "We're still confident that there is a trophy up there (in Spokane) waiting for us and, luckily, Kittitas is on the other side of the bracket."
Kittitas (24-0) took control of the regional title game in the first quarter, using full-court defensive pressure to build a 17-7 bulge.
The Coyotes continued to roll in the second quarter as they again outscored the Cougars by 10 and doubled their lead (33-13) at the intermission.
A disastrous four-point third quarter foreclosed any hope Lyle had of mounting a second-half comeback or avoiding its lowest offensive output of the season.
Still, the Cougars managed to hold their own in the fourth quarter, matching the Coyotes point-for-point in a 19-19 standoff.
Senior Lindsey Blaine had 21 points (seven below her season average) and eight rebounds to lead Lyle, while Kittitas' Katie Hart scored 23 points to take game honors.
Smith said his plan of rotating all 10 of his players into the game -- to prepare the team for the rigors of tournament play -- backfired.
"We wanted to see certain combinations that we might need at state if we had to play four games straight," he explained. "I don't think that put us in the right frame of mind for the game. That, coupled with the fact the Kittitas girls are trying to make a bid to become the only team from Kittitas to go undefeated, made for a long day."
Final Statistics
Cougars Scoring--
(36) Lindsey Blaine 21, Tara Rappe 5, Sarah Billette 3, Dawn Ullom 3, Taralee Graves 2, Kelsey Sorensen 2.
Rebounding--
(27) Billette 9, Blaine 8, Graves 3.
Steals--
(3) Graves 2, Blaine 1.
Assists--
(5) Kristin Brown 2.
Shooting--
10/2's (Blaine 5, Rappe 2); 3/3's (Blaine 3); 7-12/FTs (Blaine, Graves 2-2.
Fouls--
(10).
Coyotes scoring--
(67) Katie Hart 23, Christina Bruketta 12, Shawna Gibb 8, Camille Gibb 7, Katie Stingley 5, Lacey Ollgaard 5, Erica Granholm 4, Stephanie Mifflin 3.
Shooting--
23/2's (Hart 6; Bruketta, S. Gibb 4); 5/3's (Hart 3); 6-14/FTs (Hart 2-4).
Fouls--
(18).
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