Wv Girls Dethrone No. 1 Meadowdale

So much for the No. 1 team in the state. Now West Valley attempts to BE the No. 1 team in the state.

WV continued its march through the girls State AA basketball tournament Friday by stopping top-ranked Meadowdale 49-42 in the semifinals at the Tacoma Dome.

The 10th-ranked Eagles (21-4) advanced to their first state championship game by holding tough after surrendering a 14-point lead.

“Honestly, I thought we’d come back,” said WV senior wing Dawn Salfer, who had a game-high 13 rebounds and hit 8 of 9 free throws. “We always have our lapses.”

WV matches up with No. 4 Prosser (25-3) at 6 tonight. Prosser beat two-time defending state champ Blanchet 48-40 in the late semifinal. Prosser played without Montana State University-bound Chrissy Reade (16.4 ppg), who injured her knee Thursday and will not play tonight.

Meadowdale’s leading scorer Kellie O’Neill, who injured her hamstring Wednesday, didn’t start against WV but ultimately made her presence known.

The Chiefs (24-3) sputtered through 13 minutes, falling behind WV 19-2 on their way to shooting 19 percent from the floor for the half.

With point guard Angela Kallas and Gabby McClintock combining for 19 points, WV held a 33-19 lead with 2:25 left in the third quarter.

O’Neill then summoned her strength to score 10 points inside during a 15-0 run that put WV behind for the first time.

“One thing I’ve learned this year is that if I panic, it’s contagious to the kids,” said WV coach Mark Kuipers.

WV went more than 7 minutes without a field goal before Kiesha Sowers cashed in with 3 minutes left for a 37-36 lead. O’Neill answered with a putback at 2:33 for her final points and her team’s final lead.

Down the stretch, WV turned to its old friend, the free throw. The Eagles hit 10 of 11 during the final 2:19, giving them 18 of 22 for the game (82 percent) and 65 of 94 for three days. The tourney record is 85 free throws made, by Gig Harbor in 1991.

“What paid off for us is free throws in crunch time,” Kuipers said. “We’re at the point where we really believe we can play with anybody.”

“We just wanted to go home with a trophy,” said Kallas, whose twin sister Andrea will play for the State AAA title tonight with Central Valley. “Now we’re playing for the championship.”

McClintock hit 5 of 9 field goals and 5 of 6 free throws.

West Valley 49, Meadowdale 42

West Valley 9 12 12 16 - 49 Meadowdale 2 9 20 11 - 42

WEST VALLEY - Kallas 4 1-3 11, Shollenberger 1 0-0 3, Simpson 0 0-0 0, McClintock 5 5-6 15, Frost 0 2-2 2, Salfer 1 8-9 10, Sowers 3 0-0 6, Roberts 0 2-2 2. Totals: 14 18-22 49.

MEADOWDALE - Trimble 4 3-5 14, Trias 0 0-0 0, Schlameus 0 0-0 0, Avila 0 0-0 0, Spiro 3 0-0 6, Krause 0 0-0 0, Hudson 1 0-0 2, O’Neill 6 4-4 16, Morgan 2 0-0 4, Hoppe 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 7-9 42.

3-pointers - Kallas 2, Shollenberger, Trimble 3. Total fouls - WV 14, Meadowdale 22. Fouled out - Trimble. Technicals - none.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo