Eagles take third at State Tournament

After enduring a loss in the semi-finals, Arlington’s girls basketball team bounced back to capture third place in the state tournament.

The Eagles defeated Mead 61-44 during an afternoon game March 5 at the Tacoma Dome.

“I think we executed really well,” said junior Jenna Villa who is one of two team captains for the Eagles. She finished the game with 23 points. “We came out with a fight. We were mad about yesterday.”

She was referring to the semifinal game March 4 where Arlington came up short against Garfield losing 56-42.

Fellow captain, senior Keira Marsh, echoed Villa’s sentiments. “I think we’re just mad about yesterday.”

“We played three-and-a-half quarters of basketball,” Villa said of the semifinal game. “We just ran out of steam.”

Arlington started the game with a 9-0 and finished the first quarter leading 17-8.

“I’m really proud with the way they responded after a tough loss last night,” Arlington head coach Joe Marsh said. “Our defense was outstanding today.”

He said it’s tough for a team to respond after a loss in the semifinals during a long tournament. Marsh added everyone working together was key to the win against Mead.

Mead slightly narrowed Arlington’s lead in the second quarter, which ended with the Eagles on top 25-18.

Scoring in the third quarter was evenly matched with Arlington scoring 12 points of its 17 points in the period from the free throw line maintaining their seven-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

The Eagles started the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run to lead 53-35. Near the end of the game, Arlington extended its lead to 19 points before the game ended at 61-44.

“It’s a good way to end the season,” Keira Marsh said. She finished the game with 15 points and senior Hannah Rork finished with 11 points.

Coach Marsh said the March 5 game marked the second time that Arlington faced Garfield in the semifinals and a number-one-seeded team in the third-place game. Mead, based in Spokane, was the District 8, 3A champion.

In 2020, Arlington defeated Eastside Catholic for third place. Rork, Marsh, Villa and Sophie Willis were members on the 2020 squad.

Post season play was canceled in 2021 due to the pandemic.

The 2022 girls basketball state tournament saw four teams from the Wesco Conference place. In addition to Arlington, Snohomish, which Arlington defeated 50-47 in the quarterfinals, placed fourth and Stanwood placed sixth in the 3A tournament at the Tacoma Dome. In the 2A tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome, Archbishop Murphy placed fourth.

“It’s a great league,” Marsh said of the Wesco Conference. “It helps us get better.”