March 13, 2009 by Scott Spruill

Yakima Herald

YAKIMA, Wash. — One girl does not make a team, and for Prosser’s continuing fortunes in the Class 2A state tournament — thank goodness for that. Elma’s Katie Colard tied the tournament record for 3-pointers, broke the mark for free throws and racked up 35 points in Thursday’s quarterfinal, but the Mustangs’ defense was plenty good elsewhere en route to a 61-56 victory that sends Prosser into the state semifinals for the second straight year. Colard, who scored 17 of Elma’s 19 points in the fourth quarter, heaved in five of her six 3-pointers in the second half and several came beyond the pro line. “I mean, gee whiz, how deep do you have to be to defend her?,” said Prosser coach Mark Little. “We actually played pretty good defense on her, she just shot way out there.”

Even with the one slip in their defensive effort, the top-ranked Mustangs simply offset that with consistent and efficient offense, just as they did Wednesday when giving up a season-high 68 points to Bellingham. Sophomores Tamara Jones and Tayshia Hunt provided a relentless 1-2 punch, combining for 43 points and 21 rebounds. They combined for 11 points in a 13-0 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters, turning a 37-37 tie into a 50-37 lead with six minutes left.

“I think today we picked it up on defense,” said Jones, who put together 24 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. “We watched some film of our game yesterday and we could see what we did wrong, not jumping to the ball, not getting weakside help and things like that. We just played a lot better defense.” For Hunt, the state tournament has been one serious coming out party. A 5-foot-8 forward with a 4.7-point scoring average, Hunt broke out for 13 points against Bellingham and then upped that career high to 19 points — on 7-for-9 shooting with two 3-pointers, no less — against Elma.

And all this despite a tweaked ankle suffered in Wednesday’s state opener. “It’s swelled up a little, but I get it taped pretty good,” said Hunt, who repeatedly attacked Colard’s defense with her dribble penetration. “I just tried to go at her and get them in foul trouble. Coach said we all had to step up, and I had a little confidence from the first game.” Hunt’s breakout game helped offset Lacie French’s foul trouble. The CWAC’s co-MVP, who scored 22 points on Wednesday, missed stretches of the second half with four fouls and settled for nine points. Prosser’s offense enjoyed another good day, shooting 45 percent a day after hitting nearly 53 percent. That’s a solid effort against an Elma crew that held Fife to 20 points on opening day.

“We’re doing good on offense,” Jones said. “What we have to remember is to keep playing defense.” When Colard wasn’t casting deep shots — she put up 20 of them — the junior guard was drawing fouls. She hit 15 of 16 free throws, breaking the tournament record for foul shots made. But while 35 points is a big number to give up to one player, Prosser did an excellent job on 6-1 Brandi Thomas, who shared the Evergreen Conference MVP honor with Colard. Thomas did haul down 10 points, but she was held to seven points on 2-for-11 shooting.

“We absolutely played better defense than yesterday,” Little said. “We called on them to pay more attention and take a little pride. Today we were way more in tune with what was going on. We didn’t give up near as many open shots.” That the Mustangs (23-1) are improving daily and appear to be building toward their best game yet bodes well for today, when the much-anticipated semifinal clash with unbeaten Archbishop Murphy tips off at 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats improved to 25-0 with a 45-35 win over Kingston in Thursday’s late quarterfinal. “These kids have been through this before,” Little said. “They’ve been tested and I think they’ll handle it well.”