Aberdeen’s girls basketball team experienced a fight back in the second half and used the free-throw line to knock off Chimacum on Saturday night at Sam Benn Gym.
After trailing 14-2 late in the first quarter, the Bobcats used their free-throw shooting to stay close before a big third-quarter scoring surge gave them the cushion to prevail, 49-44, in a non-league contest.
Kyra Gallinger led all scorers with 17 points and five steals for Aberdeen (6-7), with Jillian Swor adding 11 points (9-for-14 from the free-throw line) and seven rebounds.
“That first quarter was sluggish, but luckly, if we didn’t shoot well from the free-throw line, we would have really been behind,” said AHS head coach Jeff Niemi, whose team went 17-for-31 from the free-throw line overall. “I didn’t recognize the team. We’ve played hard all season, but once we got through that, we picked it up and made some shots. I was happy with the response.”
Despite a rough start on offense, Aberdeen found itself within striking distance due to its foul troubles. The Cowboys gave the Bobcats double bonus free throws with 5:52 left in the first half and the hosts took advantage before and after that mark.
The Bobcats went more than eight minutes of game time, spanning the first and second quarters, between successful field-goal shots. During this time, they stayed close by hitting free throws — 8 of 10 — from Angel Jones, Jillian Swor and Reagan Glanz.
Aberdeen trailed 14-2 with two minutes left in the first quarter, got free throws from Jones, then Swor and Glanz hit theirs in the second quarter at 16-10. When Mari Rabung put back an offensive rebounds for a field goal with 5 minutes left in the first half, the Bobcats only trailed 16-12.
They only hit one more free throw through to halftime, but got close when Gallinger and Glanz converted back-to-back steals into layups for a 23-20 halftime deficit.
“At the end of the second quarter, we clearly had another gear and I told them we had to come back out and play like that,” Niemi said. “They tried to pressure us and we handled it well. And, we made shots when we were open, instead of hesitating and waiting too long. We clearly feed off of us playing well.”
Aberdeen’s intensity picked up in the pivotal third quarter. Rabung’s two inside baskets bracketed Chimacum’s Shanya Nisbet’s 3-point basket at 26-24. Then, Swor and Gallinger shared the scoring duties. Swor knocked down 5-of-6 free-throw attempts, while Gallinger’s back-to-back 3-point baskets gave Aberdeen the lead for good.
All three scoring spans equalled a 15-3 third quarter and a 35-26 lead, erasing the bad start and putting the visitors into trouble — on the scoreboard and in fouls.
The fourth quarter was a frantic affair with the Cowboys pushing inside the paint for baskets and fouls to close the gap. The Bobcats did allow them to stay within shooting distance with turnovers, but never led by less than 6 until the final seconds of the contest.
Key baskets from Swor, Gallinger, Jones and Dani Buckman provided the offensive push to the finish for the Bobcats.
Glanz led the team with nine rebounds, plus added four assists and four steals, with Buckman dishing out six assists.
On Wednesday, Aberdeen hosts top-ranked Black Hills.
Chimacum 14 9 3 18 — 44
Aberdeen 6 14 15 14 — 49
Chimacum (44) — G. Yaley 6, Trafton 6, M. Nisbet 15, Dowling 8, A. Yaley 2, S. Nisbet 7. FG — 16-61 (.262). FT — 9-17.
Aberdeen (49) — Buckman 3, Glanz 3, Gallinger 17, Rabung 6, Swor 11, Jones 8, Roberts 1. FG — 14-38 (.368).FT — 17-31.
JV — Aberdeen 33, Chimacum 21.
