Photos: Fourth-ranked Lake Washington ratchets up defense, wins convincingly at No. 9 Gig Harbor

The reigning Class 3A state runners-up from 2020 was starting to hit their stride in the final weeks of the regular season.

GIG HARBOR - Jeff Wilson is starting to see really good signs from his fourth-ranked Lake Washington High School girls basektball team.

And right in time for the start of the Class 3A playoffs.

Led by Rosa Smith's 18 points, and lockdown perimeter defense, the reigning state runners-up from the 3A KingCo locked down No. 9 Gig Harbor, 51-34, in a non-league game Saturday afternoon.

Taylor Schwab matched Smith with 18 points for the Tides, who cut Lake Washington's lead to 23-18 on Olivia Paul's length-of-the-court layin with one second remaining in the first half.

But the Kangs' decisive push came late in the third quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Angie Helf and Rae Butler Wu in a five-second span - and Smith's 3-pointer with five seconds remaining capped an 11-0 run, and Lake Washington led, 44-25.

The Kangs held Gig Harbor's Baylee Young, one of the top scorers in the 3A South Sound Conference, without any points.

"Our guard defense has been incredible," Wilson said. "We felt we could throw multiple bodies at them."

Here is a photo gallery from the Lake Washington-Gig Harbor game

PHOTO GALLERY

(Featured photos by Todd Milles)