BELLEVUE —  Union didn’t come away with an opening round win in the Class 4A girls basketball state tournament on Friday. But the Titans earned something valuable for when they next take the court in the Round of 12 – A feeling that they belong. Making its first state appearance since 2020, Union took Woodinville down to the final possession before losing 70-66 on Friday at Bellevue College. Nevermind that the No. 5 seed Titans trailed 67-56 with 3:58 to play. Union (20-4) clawed within 69-66 and had the ball against a No. 4 Woodinville team that has placed no worse than fourth in the last four state tournaments, winning the title in 2022.

A play was drawn up for Brooklynn Haywood, who led all scorers with 38 points. But the sharp-shooting junior stepped out of bounds as she tried to dribble out of the corner with 3.2 seconds to play. Haywood made seven 3-pointers and eclipsed 2,000 career points midway through the first quarter. She said Friday’s loss did nothing to hurt her team’s confidence heading into a loser-out game Wednesday in the Tacoma Dome against No. 12 Emerald Ridge or No. 13 Glacier Peak. “I feel like we definitely stepped up as a team,” Haywood said. “We’ve never been in this position before. It’s our first time playing like that against one of the best teams in the state in Woodinville. Being able to hang in there and play with them was good.” Haywood, who averaged nearly 33 points per game in the regular season, started hot. She had 26 points and five 3-pointers in the first half as the Titans took a 38-34 lead into the break.

But Woodinville (23-3) is a team that can match anybody in a 3-point contest. The Falcons made five of their 15 3-pointers in the third quarter while outscoring Union 19-12. “We knew they could shoot it really well,” Union coach Gary Mills said. “We worked on trying to run them off the line a little bit. They moved the ball so well, it was difficult for us to find the right defense.” Woodinville also contained Haywood better in the second half, holding her to seven points in the third quarter and five in the fourth. Mills said opposing teams can only prepare for Haywood so much without defending her in person.

“If you watch Brooklynn on film, it just doesn’t do it justice,” Mills said. “Your team doesn’t buy it until they’ve seen it and they’re defending it. Then they go, oh geez. Then the antennas come up a bit in the second half. But that’s still on us. We have things in for her when she’s being the number one focus.” Union scored eight consecutive points over 1:58 to get back in the game. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Jalise Chatman and Haywood cut Woodinville’s lead to 67-64 with 2:00 to play. The Titans got two key defensive stops in the final minute, including a shot clock violation with 13.3 seconds to play. Though Union couldn’t get a potential game-tying shot on its final possession, the Titans left Bellevue feeling they can challenge any team in the state.

“One of the main criticisms of this tournament is that a team can lose in the first round and still win the state championship,” Mills said. “We just talked about let’s have them criticize that again. That’s the second- or third-best team in the state, in my mind. We’re definitely not happy right now, but we belong.” WOODINVILLE 70, UNION 66 UNION (20-4) — Carli Christensen 0, Myla Larry 9, Janessa Chatman 7, Leah Samuel 2, Taylor McCullough 0, Addy Eisfeldt 0, Brooklyn Haywood 38, Jalise Chatman 10. Totals – 24 (10) 8-10 66. WOODINVILLE (23-3) — Tanvi Agarwal 0, Sienna Bieler 12, Hailey Quiggle 25, Jaemie Stephens Eggers 0, Kamryn Wille 2, Jazlyn Wilderson 18, Sam Harris 13. Totals 21 (15) 13-18 70. Union       18     20      12      16 — 66 Woodinville   22     12     19    17 — 70