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Posts Tagged ‘Makana Stone’

The big payback!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on February 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone

   CHS grad Makana Stone (left) is joined by fellow fab frosh Mady Burdett (middle) and Annissia Hughes.

Sweet redemption.

Just five days after it lost its regular season finale, the Whitman College women’s basketball squad rebounded Thursday to knock that same foe out of the playoffs.

The Blues, playing on the road in Newberg, OR, beat George Fox University 78-71 in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference Women’s Tournament.

Whitman (22-4) advances to play Puget Sound (25-1) in Tacoma 7 PM Saturday.

The Loggers almost didn’t make it to the championship game, which would have been a huge shock.

They were forced to rally from 10 points down with four minutes to play against Lewis & Clark, escaping with a 61-58 win.

The winning points came on a three-point play the hard way (bucket and free throw) from Jamie Lange, the league’s Freshman of the Year, with just 10 seconds to play.

Over in Oregon, the other semifinal matched teams with identical records that had split games during the regular season.

Whitman won 82-74 in Oregon Jan. 22, before George Fox upended the Blues 65-62 Feb. 18 in Walla Walla.

Thursday’s game started in favor of the Bruins, who built a 37-33 lead at the half, before Whitman stormed back in the second half.

A 23-15 third quarter gave the Blues the lead and they never relinquished it after that.

Coupeville High School grad Makana Stone, making the ninth start of her freshman season, dropped in 10 points and snatched seven boards in 31 minutes of action.

It was the second time the former Wolf has broken the 30-minute barrier this season (she played 35 minutes against Louisiana College in Dec.) and she used her time well.

Stone scored in every quarter, tickling the twines with three silky jumpers and two layups.

She was one of four Blues to hit double digits in scoring, with Chelsi Brewer (20), Casey Poe (15) and Emily Rommel (15) also wielding a hot shooting touch.

On the season, Stone has seen action in 25 of 26 games (missing one because of concussion protocol) and has racked up 165 points and 148 rebounds.

She’s #2 on the squad in rebounding and field goal percentage and has 25 assists, 11 blocks and 13 steals on her stat sheet.

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Stone rock-solid to the end!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on February 18, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone, seen here during her senior season at CHS, has been a dynamo on the college hardwood. (John Fisken photo)

   Makana Stone, seen here during her senior season at CHS, has been a dynamo on the college hardwood. (John Fisken photo)

Makana Stone would not go down without a fight.

The Coupeville grad scored her team’s final eight points Saturday, but not even her late-game heroics could save Whitman College in its regular season women’s basketball finale.

When teammate Mady Burdett’s three-ball at the buzzer bounced off the rim, the Blues fell 65-62, settling for third-place in the final Northwest Conference standings.

Whitman closes regular season play at 12-4 in league, 21-4 overall.

George Fox (13-3, 21-4), which avenged an earlier loss to the Blues, finish runner-ups behind Puget Sound (16-0, 24-1).

Those three teams, and fourth-place Lewis & Clark (9-7, 16-9), advance to the league tourney.

Whitman travels to Newberg, Oregon Thursday, Feb. 23 for an immediate rematch with George Fox.

Win that game and the Blues advance to the championship game Feb. 25, where they would play the winner of Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark.

Making her eighth start as a freshman, Stone threw down 11 points, snatched five rebounds and delivered two crushing blocks.

The rejections both came in the first quarter, as Whitman roared out to a 9-0 lead in the early going, before faltering a bit.

George Fox knotted the game at 18-18 after one quarter, and things remained tied 31-31 at the half.

A 22-18 third quarter run by the visitors was the difference, and the Bruins were still clinging to a 60-54 lead with 2:58 to play when Stone went to work.

She went on an 8-2 run by herself, draining a jumper, netting a pair of free throws, slapping down a layup, then pulling up for another jumper which tied the game at 62-62.

Stone’s final bucket, coming off an assist by Casey Poe, rattled home with 54 ticks on the clock.

George Fox answered with a Kaycee Creech lay-in at the 0:38 mark, then added one of two free throws with 11 seconds left to stretch out the final margin.

Whitman’s final two shots, both of which clanged off, came from veteran players and not their red-hot freshman.

As she and her teammates head into the postseason, Stone has 155 points (6.5 a night) and 141 rebounds (5.9) on the year.

She’s #2 on the team in rebounding and field goal percentage (51.5% on 68 of 132), and has collected 24 assists, 11 blocks and 12 steals.

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Back to kick your fanny!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on February 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone

   Makana Stone was welcomed to Whitman with a gift of Walla Walla onions. She’s returned the favor by throwing down buckets. (Eileen Stone photo)

The supernova has returned.

After sitting out a game for concussion protocol, Makana Stone returned to the hard-court Friday, helping Whitman College to a 63-61 win over visiting Lewis and Clark.

The victory avenges an earlier loss to the Pioneers and lifts the Blues to 21-3 overall, 12-3 in Northwest Conference play.

Whitman is tied for second place headed into its regular season finale Saturday afternoon.

The Blues will welcome George Fox (20-4, 12-3), a team it beat 82-74 the first time around, for a game which will decide seeding for the league tourney.

Stone, a freshman from Coupeville, returned to the starting lineup Friday and threw down nine points while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.

Five of her caroms came on the offensive glass.

Now 6-1 as a college starter, Stone had sat out Whitman’s win over Pacific Lutheran last Saturday after getting smacked hard in the face a night earlier in a tussle with Puget Sound.

She returned to that showdown after sitting out a quarter and still led the Blues in scoring and rebounding, but had some dizziness the next day and her coach took a precaution and sat her against a 1-21 team.

Everything was back to normal Friday, as Stone put in a strong 23 minutes of floor time for the Blues.

The game was a tight one, with Whitman up by five after one quarter, before Lewis & Clark knotted things at 30-30 headed into halftime.

A 19-17 edge in the third was the difference, as the two squads battled to a 14-14 stalemate in the fourth.

Three Blues hit double digit scoring, led by Chelsi Brewer with 14.

Casey Poe and Maegan Martin added 12 apiece, while Stone and Alysse Ketner both hit for nine.

The former Wolf spread out her offense across all four quarters, with her biggest bucket coming late in the game.

Grabbing an offensive rebound in a one-point game, Stone went right back up and drilled a jumper with 54 seconds left on the clock to stake Whitman to a 62-59 lead it would not relinquish.

It was one of three times she scored off of offensive boards in the game.

For the season, Stone has 144 points (6.3 a night) and 136 rebounds (5.9).

She’s second on the team in rebounding and field goal percentage (51.6% on 64 of 124), while also collecting 24 assists, nine blocks and 12 steals.

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Stone sparkles on center stage!!

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone (23), seen here during last year's state tournament, notched team-highs in points and rebounds Friday. (John Fisken photo)

   Makana Stone (23), seen here during last year’s state tourney, notched 16 points and 11 rebounds Friday for Whitman College. (John Fisken photo)

Everything but the win.

Coupeville’s Makana Stone, making her sixth start as a college basketball player, put together her best performance of the season Friday night, while facing her most accomplished rival.

But, in the end, Stone’s team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds, some of which fueled a wild fourth quarter comeback for Whitman, couldn’t stop the University of Puget Sound from clinching a league title.

UPS, after blowing a 17-point lead in memorable fashion, rallied in overtime to down the Blues 89-82.

The win lifts the Loggers to 13-0 in Northwest Conference play, 21-1 overall, while Whitman slides to 10-3, 19-3.

The Blues drop into a second-place tie with George Fox with three games to play, but have the upper hand, having beaten the Bruins the first time around.

Whitman plays 1-21 Pacific Lutheran Saturday, before closing the regular season at home Feb. 17-18 against Lewis & Clark and the aforementioned George Fox.

Both times Puget Sound and Whitman played this season the game hinged on missed free throws in the final seconds and then went to an extra period.

In the first meeting the Blues missed the charity shots, while this time it was UPS star Samone Jackson who clanked two free throws with 20 seconds in regulation.

Puget Sound was clinging to a two-point lead at the time, and, with the reprieve, Whitman knotted things up when Casey Poe netted a pair of free throws of her own with 13 ticks on the clock.

That the Blues even had a chance to tie things up was extraordinary.

After battling to a 41-41 tie at the break, UPS went nuclear on Whitman in the third quarter, hitting 64% of their shots while outscoring the Blues 30-13.

But, instead of breaking, Whitman, sparked by two fourth-quarter blocks by Stone (plus a silky jumper, three rebounds and a key assist) roared back in the game’s final minutes.

Going into lock-down mode on defense, the Blues limited UPS to just 13% shooting in the final quarter, pulling off the 26-9 comeback.

Stone sliced through the paint for a layup at the 2:37 mark of overtime to stake Whitman to an 82-81 lead, but after that her squad struggled to get another shot off.

The Blues didn’t get another attempt airborne until the 0:33 mark, then missed a pair of treys and a jumper in a final effort to catch UPS.

Using all 27 of her minutes to maximum impact, Stone scored her 16 points off of 8 of 11 shooting, while adding three assists and two blocks to go with her 11 boards.

Through 22 games, she has 135 points (6.1 a night), 129 rebounds (5.9), 24 assists, 12 steals and nine blocks.

Stone is #2 on the team in rebounding, even with coming off the bench in her first 16 games, and is tied for #2 in field goal percentage, hitting 51% (60 of 117).

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Flying sky high!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on February 4, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone (John Fisken photo)

   Makana Stone has jumped from high school to college, yet she’s still soaring on a nightly basis. (John Fisken photo)

Now that’s a beat-down.

With five different players hitting for double digit scoring Saturday, the Whitman College women’s basketball squad thrashed host Linfield 97-48.

Freshman Makana Stone, starting for the Blues on the same night her former Coupeville High School teammates capped a third-straight unbeaten league season, went for six points and six rebounds.

Whitman is 19-2 overall, 10-2 in Northwest Conference play and 5-0 with Stone in the starting lineup.

Things get really serious next week, when the Blues head to Tacoma Friday, Feb. 10 to seek revenge on league-leading Puget Sound.

The Loggers, who nipped Whitman 73-71 on overtime the first time the schools met, sits at 20-1, 12-0.

Saturday night the Blues jumped on Linfield quickly, turning an eight-point lead after one quarter into a 22-point bulge at the half.

Chelsi Brewer knocked down a team-high 15, while three of her teammates went for 13 apiece.

Stone has scored 119 points (5.7 a night) and snatched 118 rebounds (5.6) through 21 games.

She’s #2 on the team in rebounding and #3 in field goal percentage (49.1% on 52 of 106) among players who’ve shot the ball more than 10 times.

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