JOYCE — Michael Jordan had his flu game, a 38-point outburst in game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. Clallam Bay’s Patience Swan didn’t quite go that far, but her 21 points and 12 rebounds while battling illness helped spark Clallam Bay to a 59-35 win over Cedar Park Christian of Mountlake Terrace.
The Bruins stayed alive with the win in Saturday’s Class 1B Tri-District Tournament play-in game and advanced to the double-elimination portion of the bracket.
Clallam Bay (15-5) will visit Tacoma Baptist (17-5) at 6 p.m. Tuesday with a state regional spot up for grabs.
“The whole team has been fighting sickness for the past few weeks and playing a lot of makeup games in a short amount of time because of the weather,” Bruins coach Mike Maines said.
“Patience has been fighting it longer than anybody else and she played as hard as she could today despite it.”
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Clallam Bay’s Patience Swan aims for the hoop as Cedar Park Christian’s Parker Reymore tries to defend on Saturday at Crescent High School in Joyce.
Swan scored 15 of her 21 points in the first half, even leaving the floor at one point before returning as Clallam Bay went up 24-16 at the break.
Cedar Park Christian hung around thanks to 10 first-half points from Lions guard Beatrice Simon.
But Clallam Bay put the kibosh on Simon after halftime with the Bruins putting an emphasis on full-court man-to-man defense.
“We switched to that full court man and put some pressure on them,” Maines said.
Cedar Johnson took on the duty of guarding Simon and limited her to two points in the third. Johnson also sank three third-quarter 3-pointers as the Bruins posted a 25-point quarter to take full control of the game.
“Those were huge for us,” Maines said. “She can shoot the ball.”
The Bruins forced numerous turnovers in transition and got big buckets and strong defense from Vanessa Jimmicum, Jada Clemmons and Swan.
“We put Vanessa in for her defense,” Maines said. “She’s pretty fierce out there and she played tough and hit some good shots.”
Amber Swan, an eighth-grader, also had seven points and number of rebounds for Clallam Bay.
“They are home-schooled and decided to go to Clallam Bay,” Maines said of the Swans. Patience Swan was a member of the Neah Bay girls team her first two high school seasons.
“We’re more than happy to have them play for us,” Maines said with a smile.
Shyann Littleton also got in and sank a basket to the delight of the Bruins’ fans.
“It really was a good team win,” Maines said.
Clallam Bay 59, Cedar Park Chr. 35
Cedar Park 12 4 6 13 — 35
Clallam Bay 10 14 25 10 — 59
Cedar Park Christ. (35) — Simon 19, Reymore 5, Seim 5, Noguera 2, Yosef 4.
Clallam Bay (59) — P. Swan 21, Johnson 11, A. Swan 7, Cumming 6, Jimmicum 6, Clemmons 4, Littleton 2, Signor, Tyree.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Clallam Bay’s Cedar Johnson, left, pass to teammate Jasmine Tinoco during the first quarter against Cedar Park Christian on Saturday in Joyce.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Clallam Bay’s Koren Cumming, right, and Cedar Park Christian’s Emma Seim tussle on the floor with an up-for-grabs ball as Rainee Signor of Clallam Bay and Parker Reymore of Cedar Park Christian look on during Saturday’s game in Joyce.
