Seven days after cruising past fourth-ranked Marshfield in a non-league game, the No. 3-ranked Astoria girls basketball team opened the post-season Saturday afternoon with a decisive 69-39 victory over 16th-ranked Mazama .
The win brings an official end to a 21-year absence from the state tournament for the Lady Fishermen. Astoria would have been a part of the 2020 state tournament, prior to its cancellation.
Astoria’s last official appearance in a state tournament was the 2001-02 team, coached by Mark Fick. At the 3A state tournament in Corvallis, Astoria defeated Myrtle Point 34-28, before consecutive losses to Marist and Molalla.
Mazama held an early 8-4 lead in Saturday’s game, but Astoria’s Maitlin Young hit a pair of 3-pointers, and the Vikings got into foul trouble. The Lady Fishermen reeled off a 16-0 run to take the lead for good.
The Vikings stayed within eight to 10 points for another quarter, before Astoria pulled away in the third, with three Mazama starters fouling out.
Young scored 19 points, Shelby Bruney added 16, and three other players had seven or more for the Lady Fishermen. Young also had five assists and four steals.
Defensively, Astoria had 16 steals and scored 28 points off turnovers. The Vikings had 31 turnovers.
In Saturday’s playoff, the Fishermen “were a little nervous the first part of the game,” Astoria girls basketball coach Mike Jacobson said. “But as it went on they settled in and did a great job of playing our game, and staying true to the process.”
Jacobson has been to state tournaments before, and is now officially taking his third different school to state .
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