It took only a few minutes for Tualatin’s Jordyn Smith to let Liberty High School it was going to be a tough night in the paint.
Three of Tualatin’s first five baskets in Tuesday night’s first round playoff matchup came from Smith pulling down an offensive rebound surrounded by players from Liberty and putting back up a shot from close range.
By that point, the Timberwolves were up 11-2 and never looked back en route to a 72-23 win at home Tuesday night.
Smith netted just one more bucket after that opening flurry to finish with eight points to go along with her 13 rebounds. Tualatin’s lone senior opened the second quarter with back-to-back steals that lead to consecutive fast break points. She also shut down the paint against Liberty, who scored most of their points from mid-range jumpers and the occasional three.
“Jordan is as valuable as a player that we have, and maybe as a valuable as a player we’ve had in a number of years,” Tualatin Coach Wes Pappas said. “She has just become so good in the middle of our zone. Teams just don’t score in the paint against us.”
Of course, as has become a yearly tradition with Pappas’ squads, teams don’t score really all that much from any part of the court against them at all. A big reason for that this year was Tualatin’s press, which allowed them to put continual pressure on opponents from the second they touch the ball through their entire possession.
That pressure starts with Tualatin’s three quick, pesky guards: freshman Love Lei Best, junior Ries Miadich, and freshman Bella Amens, who comes off the bench for the Timberwolves. The press was in full force in Tuesday’s playoff win, perhaps no stronger than a dominant second quarter in which Tualatin out-scored Liberty 16-2.
“We have we have three kids that we rotate on top that are just all ballhawks,” Pappas said. “They put a lot of pressure on. I think they can stay in front and pressure the top kids in the state.”
Pappas said Tualatin didn’t pressure as much last season since it didn’t have the ability to put two players up top to really get the pressure going, especially later in the season once a few players went out with injuries.
“This year, we’ve been able to press most everybody,” he said. “It’s almost like a cornerback in football that you can just say, ‘All right, just lock that person down’ and that’s what our top two kids do.”
On offense, the scoring was pretty even throughout the roster Tuesday night. The starters didn’t end up playing too many minutes, as things were in control fairly early. Best led the team with 11 points followed by 10 each for Miadich and junior Maaya Lucas.
Freshman Kendall Dawkins and sophomore Maela Tsaknaridis each chipped in nine points apiece.
Tualatin’s second round playoff game will be at home Friday night against Nelson. If the Timberwolves win that one, they’ll move onto the Chiles Center at University of Portland, where the final three rounds of the OSAA playoffs take place.
