Juanita senior fractures arm in rivarly win over Lake Washington

Though there was plenty of basketball to play, the deciding moment of Wednesday’s girls basketball game came midway through the first quarter.

Juanita’s Brittany White and Lake Washington senior Tori Bivens dove for a loose ball, tapped away from the Kangs and into the back court. White landed awkwardly on her left forearm, and spent several minutes with coaches and the trainer before slowly walking off the court, gingerly holding her arm.

White was sent for x-rays, and after the game, word returned: it was a fracture, which would require season-ending surgery for the Rebel senior.

Juanita went on to pull away and cruise to a 54-41 win at Lake Washington High School, but White’s injury set an early tone of physicality.

“Our senior night is in two games, and she’s out for the season,” said Rebels senior Tea Adams, who led all scorers with 23 points. “That’s a really hard loss, because she’s our only other senior.”

Juanita (8-4 KingCo, 12-6) won the first match up on Dec. 16, and came in battling for playoff seeding. Lake Washington (1-11, 2-16) came in battling for playoff hopes altogether.

Midway through the second half, the game began to spiral out of control: officials called a technical on Juanita’s Brandi White for a ball fake on an out-of-bounds play, insinuating the ball was too close to the face of her defender. Lake Washington’s Sydney Olsen hit a 3-pointer and drew a foul on Adams, who threw an elbow into the throat of a Lake Washington player on a rebound attempt at the other end.

Adams grew frustrated and began to put her head down and aggressively attack the basket — contact or no contact.

Adams swoops in and scores, Juanita up 50-29. pic.twitter.com/jvfR37SSmH
— John William Howard (@JowardHoward) January 26, 2017

“Shen teams have smacked her in the face, she says, ‘Okay, I’ll take that as a challenge,’ and she’s produced off the bat,” Juanita coach Todd Brink said. “It’s not the first time that teams have tried to be super physical and tried to nullify her athleticism and talent.”

In the midst of it all, Brink turned to the visiting fans and asked them to cool it.

But then Lake Washington freshman Alexandra Mueller knocked Juanita’s Taylor Bryne into the wall on a fast-break attempt, hard enough that teammate Brandi White had to step in for the resulting free throws.

Brink finally called a time out and instructed his players to kill the clock.

“I think [the rivalry games] get that way because, to be honest with you, Lake Washington plays with a… they’re very… physical from a lot of bodies, a lot of arm bars — that kind of stuff,” Brink said carefully after the teams left the locker rooms. “When they’re getting away with it and the officials aren’t calling it, that’s why it gets to be out of control there.”

Lake Washington coach Regi Raban said he didn’t see a “chippy” approach from the Kangs, but rather a group of athletes with more energy than they knew what to do with.

Raban also gave his condolences to Brittany White.

“She’s a girl that has played for me in the past when I’ve coached AAU teams,” Raban said. “I know her family and her, and obviously I don’t want her to get hurt. None of it was intentional, and if it was, I definitely would have corrected the issue.”

Brandi White finished with 10 points, Alexis Intong had eight points and Hannah Kleppe had seven for Juanita. Kang senior Kathy Helf had 11 points and senior Olivia Smallman had nine points to lead Lake Washington in the loss.

The Rebels are currently in a fight for the third seed in the upcoming conference tournament, and sit a game clear of Redmond in the loss column. Juanita can lock in the third seed with two wins to close out the year, or a loss by Redmond, to set up a conference tournament showdown against Bellevue on Feb. 4.

The Kangs haven’t been eliminated from the conference tournament, but Lake Washington would need an Interlake loss and wins over Redmond and Mercer Island to qualify.