Elma struggled against Zillah’s full court press and couldn’t contain Samantha Bowman as the Eagles lost their 1A Regional game to the Leopards, 79-38, at Davis High School in Yakima on Saturday, Feb. 25.

The Eagles had troubles handling the basketball from the opening tip off and committed 38 turnovers against Zillah’s pressure defense. Bowman, a 6-foot-2 post, controlled the paint for the Leopards to finish the game with 25 points.

The loss ends Elma’s season with a record of 14-10.

“We just really started out on our heels,” Elma head coach Lisa Johnson said. “We had 25 turnovers in the first half and gave up 10 offensive boards to go along with that. They are a good team and we had a hard time with the press and their length tonight.”

The Eagles suffered a blow in the first two minutes of the game when sophomore Molly Johnston, who is Elma’s second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, hit her head on the floor and exited the game for good with concussion symptoms.

Brooke Sutherby led Elma with 10 points, while freshman Jaelyn Sackrider added nine points. Peyton Elliott finished her last game for the Eagles with eight points.

“I’m super proud of this season,” Johnson said. “They got to be one of the top 16 teams in the state and I couldn’t have asked for more. They gave everything they had and we really hit the peak at the right time. We just faced a team that was better than us tonight.”

Johnson cited seniors Elliott, McKenzie Neary and Tawni Heller for their efforts throughout their careers and playing a pivotal roll this season.

Elma 5 9 14 10 — 38

Zillah 18 18 23 20 — 79

Elma (38) — Sackrider 9, Bieker, Elliott 8, Sutherby 10, Olson, Neary, Johnson, Mikel 2, Heller 3, Johnston, Rambo 6, Bol. FG — 14-31 (.452) FT — 6-9.

Zillah (79) — Myres 16, Ziegler 3, Favilla 4, Delp 7, John 7, Bowman 25, Takes Enemy 13, Kruegar 2. FG — 30-61 (.492) FT — 15-22.