'We are not losing': Thompson, Sheffey take over again in Woodinville's 4A semifinal win over Eastlake

Tatum Thompson scored 26 points and Veronica Sheffey scored 19 as the standout Woodinville seniors rallied the Falcons to a 59-55 win over No. 5 Eastlake to ensure a return trip to the 4A state championship game.

TACOMA, Wash. -- Tatum Thompson looked at the score, shook her head and thought about this time two years ago when she and her teammates walked off the floor in defeat, a win away from taking home a gold trophy. 

"I was saying in my head, 'We are not losing,'" the senior guard said. "We have to get back (to the title game)." 

Fellow senior Veronica Sheffey said she had the same thoughts running through her mind. 

"We hated that feeling," Sheffey said, remembering that 4A title-game loss to Central Valley in the 2020 tournament, the last time there were any game in the Tacoma Dome. "We don't want to have to feel like that again." 

So Thompson and Sheffey combined for 45 points in a scintillating semifinal performance that rallied the Falcons back to beat No. 5 Eastlake, 59-55, on Friday to secure their return trip to the title game. 

It was evident their on-court chemistry that began all the way back in the fourth grade would play a pivotal role in this game, in which Eastlake had built an eight-point lead in the first half after losing by 15 in the previous meeting of these 4A KingCo rivals. 

Eva Schmidt, Eastlake's 6-foot-2 standout junior post, scored on a putback to cut Woodinville's lead to 45-43 near the start of the fourth quarter on her way to finishing with a game-high 26 points with 10 rebounds. 

Then Sheffey, who had been the focus of Eastlake's box-and-one zone defense, darted for a loose ball, raced past the Wolves backcourt and glided for a transition bucket. 

Thompson followed with a score before Sheffey jumped in front of an outlet pass for a steal and pulled up from the left wing for a running jumper to start a 8-0 Woodinville run. 

It was ultimately too much for Eastlake (23-4), with Thompson and Sheffey also combining to go a startling 19-for-20 from the free-throw line. 

"They are a dynamic duo," Eastlake coach Sara Goldie said of Thompson and Sheffey. Thompson scored 26 points with six rebounds and three assists, while Sheffey scored 19 points with five rebounds. 

"They're impossible to stop," Goldie added. "We knew they were going to get theirs. We were just trying to limit one of them (hence the box-and-one on Sheffey) and we didn't limit either of them. But they had to earn their points tonight. We executed the game plana nd we made them earn their points. 

"So that's a fantastic team and that's why they deserve to be where they are." 

Since losing its season opener against 2A Tumwater, Woodinville (25-1) has since rattled 25 consecutive victories to ensure its return to the championship game. 

But it was looking like Eastlake might have made the necessary adjustments after a 68-53 loss to Woodinville on Feb. 5. 

The Wolves tough sophomore guard, Tatum Wood, scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half. She also finished with 10 rebounds, but her physical dribble drives and finishes was giving Woodinville fits on Eastlake's way to a 24-16 lead midway through the second quarter. 

This was one day after Wood hit the go-ahead bucket in the final minute of Eastlake's win over Emerald Ridge in the 4A quarterfinals. 

So Bullock made some adjustments of his own. 

He switched 5-foot-3 senior Autumn Sellie onto the 5-foot-9 Wood, which on paper might not seem so savvy, but Sellie gave Wood fits trying to find any space or get open for entry passes. 

"That was the game changer," Bullock said. "Autumn on Tatum. A 5-3 girl guarding a 5-9 girl. But Autumn was incredible." 

Said Goldie: "They made it really hard for us to get any entry passes into (Tatum). It was a good move by Scott." 

But Schmidt continued to dominate the paint to keep Eastlake alive, and she drilled her third 3-pointer of the game with four minutes to play to cut the lead to 47-46. 

Then Thompson and Sheffey showed why there's no replacement for senior leadership. 

"We have been playing together for a long time," Sheffey said. "The chemistry has been there for a long time. The stuff off the court, our connection -- it translates onto the court." 

---TJ Cotterill; @TJCotterill.