The 2015-2016 season for the Lynnwood Royals may not have had the perfect ending that the team would have written for itself, but the story did conclude with smiles on all the major characters’ faces.
The Royals closed out the year with a 64-27 rout of the Kamiakin Braves Saturday in the WIAA 3A Girls Basketball Tournament third/fifth place game at the Tacoma Dome.
With the victory, Lynnwood captured the 3A state third place trophy and finished the season 26-1, the only blemish being a heartbreaking loss to Bellevue on Friday that kept the Royals from advancing to the 3A title game.
Saturday’s win over the Braves gave the Royals reason to smile after Friday’s defeat to the Wolverines.
“It’s a little bittersweet because obviously we wanted the championship game and the perfect fairy tale,” Lynnwood’s Jordyn Edwards said, “but today I’m just glad I got to end it with a team that I love and on a positive note too. It was really good.”
“We’re really happy with a third-place finish,” Lynnwood’s Mikayla Pivec added.
It was the Royals’ second third- place trophy at the state tournament in the past four years. Last year, Lynnwood won the 3A girls state title.
The Royals left no doubt Saturday that they would be able to brush off Friday’s loss and focus on a young Kamiakin team wanting to pull off a big upset on the last day of this year’s tournament.
“(Friday) was a disappointing loss for us and these types of games are challenging,” Lynnwood Coach Everett Edwards said. “But I felt like we would be ready to play. So yeah, it is very difficult, but the girls stepped up right from the start. They played great defense and played a full game.”
After the Braves got on the scoreboard first with an Alexa Hazel lay-in 22 seconds into the game, Lynnwood rattled off the next 13 points and never looked back. The Royals led 16-4 after the first quarter, 35-11 at halftime, and was never challenged in the contest.
Pivec led the way for the Royals with 23 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Edwards contributed 22 points in the victory.
Coach Edwards explained that the team rallied around the idea to triumph in Saturday’s game for their two seniors, Pivec and Edwards. “For their senior year, for their last game, we wanted to win it for them – not only for them, for our team,” Coach Edwards said. “But they are special players and we’re just excited that they were able to have their last game to be a win and to get a trophy for our school.”
The Royals’ Kelsey Rogers scored 10 points with a 5-for-6 shooting performance on Saturday. Kaprice Boston, who was injured in Friday’s loss to Bellevue, played 16 minutes Saturday despite having her left hand heavily bandaged because of a possible fracture.
With the team well on to victory, Edwards pulled his two seniors out of the game and off a high school basketball court for the last time with 2:50 to go, giving fans a chance to cheer for Pivec and Edwards one final time.
“That was the last time on the court together with the Lynnwood Royals basketball team,” Pivec noted. “That was probably when it really hit and we started hugging the coaches.”
“They are special kids and to think that they are going to be able to go on to the next level is a great thing,” Edwards said of the two seniors (Jordyn is also his daughter). “But for this moment, for this team, it’s something we will never forget. And we’ll cherish it forever.”
Pivec and Edwards will be heading to their college classes – and collegiate women’s basketball – in July. Pivec will be attending Oregon State University in Corvallis while Edwards will be a Colorado State Ram.
Although their prep basketball careers are over, Pivec and Edwards will still get one more chance to don a Royals uniform as both will compete with the Lynnwood girls track and field team this spring – a team that placed third at the WIAA 3A State Track and Field Championships last year and is expected to contend for the state title this season.
Even after a grueling basketball schedule that has kept them busy since last November, Pivec said that she and Edwards will get right to track workouts Monday afternoon after school gets out.
“We’ll be there on the track, 2:15 (or) 2:30,” Pivec said.
Edwards winced but agreed. “Oh goodness, yeah,” she said.
Prep Girls Basketball: Lynnwood vs. Kamiakin, Mar. 5, WIAA 3A Girls State Basketball Tournament third/fifth place game
Lynnwood 16 19 14 15 — 64
Kamiakin 4 7 9 7 — 27
Lynnwood scoring: Mikayla Pivec 23, Jordyn Edwards 22, Kelsey Rogers 10, Kaprice Boston 4, Rachel Walsh 3, Abby Yemane 2, Reilly Walsh, Taylor Fahey, Kia Crawford, Abby Douglas, Valerie Bell, Kaui Piilani
Kamiakin scoring: Alexa Hazel 10, Oumou Toure 7, Kiley Larsen 3, Symone Brown 2, Chanceler Williams 2, Lexi Brown 2, Paten Wishman 1, Kendyl Holle, Rylie Clark, Salee Westermeyer, Jayden Williams
Records: Lynnwood 26-1, Kamiakin 15-12
Lynnwood next game: 2015-2016 season completed
–By Doug Petrowski
Coach Everett Edwards told reporters after Saturday’s game that he and the team wanted to express their thanks to all the fans, students, parents and band members that supported their run at the state tournament in Tacoma. “Our band is awesome; our school spirit was awesome … I just appreciate our overall school spirit,” he said.