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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eagles Rise To Occasion Wv Shoots Down Odds, Prosser In Class Aa Final

Turns out those nutty Seattle newspapers were right all along.

“They called us the long shots,” said West Valley’s Dawn Salfer, “and we can sure make the long shots.”

Completing its record-breaking 3-point effort Saturday, WV won the girls State AA basketball championship by toppling short-handed Prosser 61-44 at the Tacoma Dome.

The 10th-ranked Eagles (22-4) hit a tourney-record nine 3-pointers to give them 25 in four games, also a record. They attempted 30 3-pointers Saturday to amass a record 94 for four days.

“We get yelled at if we don’t shoot a lot,” said WV senior guard Angie Kallas, whose five 3-pointers against Prosser allowed her to tie for the overall tourney mark of 11. “We get yanked out of the game if we don’t shoot. It started early in the season. (Coach Mark Kuipers) said, ‘I don’t care if you shoot 30 times.”’

“We work a half-hour each day on 3-pointers,” Kuipers said. “The girls game today is faster… . We expect them to take those shots.”

West Side newspapers gave WV no chance of winning its first state title, which perhaps made sense given the Frontier League’s success at state. Colville (1986) and Clarkston (‘91) alone have played in the title game during 19 previous tourneys. Neither won.

Yet Kuipers had faith, given WV’s senior leadership, balance and inside/outside combination.

The fourth-ranked Mustangs (25-4), playing without leading scorer Chrissy Reade (injured knee) had just two leads, 16-15 and 29-28. Kallas’ 3-pointer with 3:32 left in the third quarter started a 9-0 run from which Prosser never recovered.

The Mustangs stayed close until midway through the fourth quarter, when Salfer completed a string of three 3-pointers in 3-1/2 minutes.

“If it goes in once, you might as well try again,” Salfer said.

“Tonight Dawn Salfer broke the game open,” Kuipers said. “Other nights it was (Kiesha) Sowers, then Gabby (McClintock). It’s the true team concept.”

“We watched film and knew (Kallas) could shoot the 3, but we didn’t know they’d shoot so many or be so ‘on,”’ said Prosser guard Holly Seymour, Reade’s replacement.

WV hit 12 of 15 free throws, completing the tourney 77 of 109 (71 percent). The Eagles were eight free throws short of another tourney record. McClintock, an all-tournament selection with Kallas, hit 26 free throws in four days.

Tourney most valuable player Meredith Walker of Prosser had 11 rebounds and hit 7 of 12 from the floor against WV.

“We knew we just had to play ‘D,’ which is what got it done,” said Sowers, who had a team-best nine rebounds. Salfer had 33 rebounds for the tourney.

WV, which joins the 3A field next year, graduates starters Kallas, Sowers, Salfer and Stacey Roberts.

West Valley 61, Prosser 44

West Valley 15 11 12 23 - 61 Prosser 13 10 12 9 - 44

WEST VALLEY - Monasmith 0 0-0 0, Kallas 6 0-0 17, Shollenberger 1 2-4 4, Simpson 0 4-4 4, McClintock 1 2-2 4, Frost 0 0-0 0, Salfer 5 3-3 17, Sowers 5 1-2 11, Roberts 2 0-0 4, Vermeers 0 0-0 0, Huffman 0 0-0 0, Pedey 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 12-15 61.

PROSSER - McCall 1 1-2 4, Laffey 0 0-0 0, McKeown 2 0-1 5, Seymour 5 0-1 11, Sonnichsen 1 0-0 2, Hartley 0 0-0 0, Osborne 0 0- 0 0, Schell 2 0-0 4, Moser 1 0-1 2, Walker 7 0-1 14, Linton 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 1-6 44.

3-pointers - Kallas 5, Salfer 4, McCall, McKeown, Seymour. Total fouls - WV 11, Prosser 16. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - none.

Blanchet 57, Meadowdale 43

Nadia Morgan scored 31 points to lead the Braves (19-8) over the Chiefs (24-4) for third place.

Morgan, a 6-foot-2 junior forward, scored 10 points in both the second and third quarters as Blanchet turned a 12-12 tie into a 48-31 runaway. Morgan shot 11 for 18 from the field and 9 for 11 from the free-throw line.

Meadowdale ended up in sixth place. The Chiefs got 11 points from Lucy Spiro and 10 from Stephanie Trimble.

Meadowdale 12 13 6 12 - 43 Blanchet 12 23 13 9 - 57

MEADOWDALE - Trimble 10, Spiro 11, Morgan 4, Hoppe 9, Schlameus 3, Avila 4, Brown 2.

BLANCHET - Heathcote 3, Pagon 8, DeLaunay 5, Morgan 31, Millard 8, Miller 2. Elma 67, Kennedy 54

Jamie Craighead scored 18 points and Lena Sutten added 15 to help the Eagles (19-6) defeat the Lancers (22-10) for fourth place.

Craighead also had four assists and five blocked shots as Elma connected on 29 of 65 field-goal attempts.

Kennedy 18 17 9 10 - 54 Elma 22 13 19 13 - 67

KENNEDY - Quitiquit 14, Austin 2, Laning 15, Ka 8, Chidsey 8, Kissler 3, Avakian 4.

ELMA - Rupe 2, Seaberg 6, Craighead 18, Sutten 15, VanFoeken 13, Stewart 1, Teresa Greene, Mathews 3, Smith 9.

West Valley-Yakima 43, Hanford 42

Sophomore guard Katie Borton scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Rams (15-10) over the Falcons (18-9) for fifth place.

Hanford led 42-41 late in the game, but a layup by Shannon O’Connor with 2:14 remaining put West Valley ahead for good, 43-42.

The Falcons missed their final four field-goal attempts.

Hanford 10 10 12 10 - 42 WV-Yakima 10 6 16 11 - 43

HANFORD - Ochoa 3, Volkman 12, Bowman 16, Haskins 7, Hughes 4.

WEST VALLEY-YAKIMA - Borton 20, Riojas 4, Steele 2, Eldridge 6, O’Connor 9, Laurence 2.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo