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Sports

Indian's Second-Half Comeback Advances Team To Yakima

Renton returns to quarterfinals for the first time since 1987.

Renton's Jordan Armstrong played through the pain in her knee Friday night and scored the game-winning basket after stealing the ball away from Sumner's Brenna Allsop to give the Indians a 42-40 win over the Spartans and advance to the quarterfinals of the 2A girls Hardwood Classic at the Yakima Valley SunDome next Thursday.

It's the team's first appearance at state since 1987 when the Indians finished in second place.

"We played with a lot of heart in the second half," said Armstrong. "In the locker room at halftime we said we didn't want to go home."

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The Indians' first-half start was a near mirror image to last years' 2A Regionals against W.F. West when they lost. Turnovers and early fouls provided the Spartans with early and often free throw attempts.

Sumner's Brenna Allsop gave the Spartans a 21-11 lead with one of many three pointers. She led all scorers with 20.

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Renton head coach Tim White told his team they needed to stick to the game plan and play with heart. The Indians came out on fire outscoring Sumner 19-10 in the third quarter down by one point.

Taylor Farris made a three point basket and a steal; Natajia McMillan scored a basket to put the Indians up 38-31 with less than 6 minutes left in the game.

Sumner began to double team Renton working to its advantage when Allsop made another three point shot to tie the game at 40 with 1:14 left. The teams traded missed shots when Armstrong stole a ball away from Allsop to score the game-winning basket.

Allsop attempted her last shot of the game, but it came up short.

The Indians were the only District 3 school to advance among 2A girls. Other Elite Eight teams advancing include Cedarcrest (Duvall), Burlington-Edison, River Ridge (Lacey), Mark Morris (Longview), W.F. West (Chehalis) West Valley (Spokane) and Wapato.

The Renton girls (22-4) will attend Sunday's Selection show at the WIAA office at 1 p.m. to see who they will play in Thursday's quarterfinals. Sumner, who won the District 3 title on Monday, finishes the season at 22-5.

Renton                 6              5              19           12 – 42

Sumner                7              14            10            9 – 40


Renton scorers – Taylor Farris 12, Natajia McMillian 10, Jordan Armstrong, Kiera Houston 6, Justice Perry 3, Aracelis Fahie 2.

Sumner scorers – Brenna Allsop 20, Jamie Lange 7, Amanda Friermuth 5, Alex Denzinger 5, Madison Coates 2, Robi Long 1,

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