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Although Amara Leckie went scoreless during the first 31 minutes of the contest between Edmonds-Woodway and Bishop Blanchet on Saturday, Warrior Coach Quinn Manning kept encouraging her freshman point guard to not shy away from putting up shot attempts.
“I was begging her to shoot all game,” Manning said. “She’s a pure shooter, just lacking a little confidence as a freshman.”
Manning’s urging — and the circumstances of the game’s final minute — led Leckie to launch a 3-point attempt from the top of the key with 17 seconds left on the clock.
“She chose the right time,” Manning said of Leckie’s shot selection.
The 3-pointer went in and proved to be the winning points in the Warriors’ 52-49 come-from-behind win over the Bears in a thrilling game played at Edmonds-Woodway High School.
Leckie’s 3-pointer gave E-W a slim 50-49 advantage, with Bishop Blanchet getting one more possession to try to recapture the lead. But after a pair of misses by the Bears, Zaniyah Jones grabbed a rebound for the Warriors, was fouled and then converted two free-throw attempts with 0.8 on the clock to secure the Edmonds-Woodway victory.
Leckie’s three points were among six that the Warriors sank in the fourth quarter on Saturday, a surprising turnaround from their earlier shooting fortunes as the team had made just three 3-pointers during the first three quarters of the game. Manning called her team’s shooting performance during those first three quarters “dismal.”
“I thought that we were going to be a shooting team this year and we haven’t quite found it yet,” Manning said. “But it felt like we heated up there (at) the right time, the right moment.”
Leckie agreed that her shooting touch — as well as that of her E-W teammates — “was off” during the game but then clicked in the fourth quarter. “We got into it at the end,” she said. “And we believed in ourselves and kept pushing through.”
After trailing 45-41 with 2:00 to go, Edmonds-Woodway outscored Bishop Blanchet 11-4 down the stretch to earn the victory.
Leckie’s game-winner was her only score in the game. Jones led the Warriors with 17 points and Amelia Faber contributed 13. Sloane Franks added 11 points — all in the fourth quarter — and included three shots converted from beyond the 3-point arc.
Leckie, Jones, Faber and Franks are all freshmen and started Saturday’s game for the Warriors. Manning explained that her Class of 2029 players (Madeline Kost is another freshman on the E-W varsity roster) have proven ready for Warrior basketball.
“They’re competitors,” Manning said of her freshmen, “And I think you saw that tonight. They have the grit and resilience, and they’re really savvy basketball players.”
Having freshmen as starters — and giving them significant playing time — had paid off for the Warriors (1-0 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 6-0 overall) so far this season as Saturday’s victory was the sixth straight to start the year.
“So it’s been fun,” Manning said. “We still have a lot of growing to do, but that was a nice win.”
Bishop Blanchet is coached by Mia Augustovo-Fisher, who last year led the Lakeside Lions to the 3A state championship game. Leading the Bears in scoring Saturday was junior Stella Ng with 23 points.
Blanchet (2-0 in 2A/3A Metro League, 2-1 overall) represented the most talented team that the Warriors have faced so far this season as the team went 20-4 last year. Facing a strong squad from Seattle’s always-tough Metro League was just the test Manning wanted for her young Warrior team.
“They’ve got a good thing going and their program’s building,” Manning said of Bishop Blanchet. “I knew this was going to be a dogfight. We have to start scheduling games that we’re not afraid of playing strong opponents and maybe even taking a few losses to prepare us for league play.”
With so much attention being garnered by the team’s freshmen, Manning stressed that the Warriors’ early success this season is in part because of the attitude of the six seniors and two juniors on the roster.
“I want to say and give a nod to my upperclassmen,” Manning said. “They are so supportive, encouraging; it’s not an easy situation to be in where you have a bunch of freshmen come in and now roles are redefined. Just class acts, of all of my upperclassmen. I really appreciate the heck out of them.”
“It’s not easy, to not get to step on the court during a game when you had been playing last year,” Manning continued. “So just hats off and respect to them. I always remind them that they have a lot of value and they’re making us better in practice. And (they) can still impact that win-and-loss column without playing in games.”
One of the Warriors’ biggest challenges on the schedule comes up in their next outing, a Tuesday, Dec. 16, road game against Archbishop Murphy. The Wildcats are the defending 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference champion and were the fourth-place finisher in last year’s 2A state tournament. Tipoff at Archbishop Murphy High School is set for 7:15 p.m.
Prep Girls Basketball: Bishop Blanchet at Edmonds-Woodway, Dec. 13
Bishop Blanchet 8 12 9 20 – 49
Edmonds-Woodway 11 9 5 27 – 52
Edmonds-Woodway individual scoring: Zaniyah Jones 17, Amelia Faber 13, Sloane Franks 11, Finley Wichers 8, Amara Leckie 3, Janie Hanson, Audrey Rothmier, Jasmine Gill, Amelia Miller
Bishop Blanchet individual scoring: Stella Na 23, Neko Joseph 8, Brooke Campbell 8, Piper Smith 5, Francesca Marona 4, Kendall Dreis 1, Bridget Barnett, Maysen Taylor, Naya Judgeware
Records: Edmonds-Woodway 1-0 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 6-0 overall; Bishop Blanchet 2-0 in 2A/3A Metro League, 2-1 overall
Edmonds-Woodway next game: versus Archbishop Murphy; Tuesday, Dec. 16; 7:15 p.m. at Archbishop Murphy High School
Bishop Blanchet next game: versus Lincoln (Seattle) Wednesday, Dec. 17; 7:30 p.m. at Bishop Blanchet High School
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