Girls basketball: Walla Walla holds off Kamiakin in OT

If there was one girls basketball game to watch Tuesday night, it was Walla Walla at Kamikain.

The Blue Devils used their height and sharp shooting by freshman Olivia Doepker to eke out a 62-61 overtime win over the Braves in Mid-Columbia Conference play.

“This was very exciting, very fun,” Wa-Hi coach Conor Fish said. “I’m proud of our whole team effort. We didn’t give them layins or let them hurt us at the free-throw line.”

The Braves, who got 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists from freshman Oumou Toure, fell to 4-2 in MCC play and have lost two conference games in a row.

“I would have liked to have made one more basket,” Braves coach Lane Schumacher said. “I think their height gave us problems driving in, and we didn’t locate Doepker in the third quarter. She had 12 of their 16 points there, and that hurt us.”

The Braves were clinging to a 56-54 lead after a basket by Jayden Williams with time winding down in the fourth quarter.

Toure missed both ends of a two-shot foul with 49 seconds left, and Walla Walla had the ball as the final seconds were evaporating off the clock.

The Braves shut down the perimeter, but with just 8 second remaining, Kate Hogan — left all alone on the weak side — got the ball and had an easy layup to tie the score at 56-all.

“We did a good job finding our big girls and finishing around the rim,” Fish said.

Kamiakin’s Kendyl Holle missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

Emma Wenzel, who had been pretty quiet for the Blue Devils during regulation, hit a bucket to tie the score at 58-all 21 seconds into the extra session, then hit the final go-ahead basket with 2:06 to play.

Alexa Hazel missed a jumper in the key just before the final buzzer as Walla Walla held on for the win.

“Wenzel was big in overtime, coming off the bench for a for a couple of big rebounds and baskets,” Fish said. “Doepker (20 points, 10 rebounds) had her best game of the year. She was playing in the eighth grade last year, and tonight she was playing in a game on TV.”

Walla Walla (4-1 MCC) led 16-13 after the first quarter and jumped out to a 25-17 lead just 2:30 into the second quarter, but the Braves pushed back.

Kamiakin went on a 12-2 run over the last 4:30 of the quarter, getting a pair of baskets by Toure — including one a the buzzer for a 29-27 lead at the half.

The Braves opened up a 40-35 lead in the third — their biggest of the game — but baskets by Doepker and Hogan and two free throws from Faith Hoe put Wa-Hi out front 43-42 after three quarters.

“It’s just one of those games,” Schumacher said. “It’s hard to get into a flow with these TV games and the long timeouts. There were no big momentum swings — no one could establish a big lead.”

Hogan added 18 points, six rebounds and seven blocked shots for the Blue Devils.

Kiley Larsen had 12 points, Holle 11 and Hazel 10 points and seven rebounds for the Braves.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 9:27 PM with the headline "Girls basketball: Walla Walla holds off Kamiakin in OT."