Knights lose valuable player

To say that the timing was lousy would be a magnificent understatement.

Just as the East Valley Knights find themselves one game away from a return trip to the state Class 3A girls high school basketball tournament, their leading scorer goes down with a knee injury.

Kelsi Jacobson injured her left knee early in the district championship game with Mt. Spokane – a game the Knights won, 56-41, to claim a No. 1 seed into the Eastern 3A Regional tournament. The junior spent the first part of her week in limbo, waiting for news from her doctors.

“I was being held and blocked out,” she said. “I twisted trying to get the ball to my left side, and I heard a pop and fell to the ground.”

Jacobson’s knee was X-rayed and given an MRI over the weekend. Monday, while she awaited the results of those tests, the Knights practiced without her and kept their fingers crossed that she could rejoin them – if not for this weekend then if and when the team qualifies for next week’s state Class 3A state tournament.

Tuesday, however, those hopes were dashed.

“I partially tore my ACL,” the tearful guard said. “I’m going to be out at least six weeks. They said I don’t need surgery. If therapy goes OK, I may be ready in time for summer ball.”

Meanwhile, her teammates prepared to pick up where they left off Friday, where they ran away from Mt. Spokane after Jacobson went down.

“I was so proud of the way they took care of business in the second half against Mt. Spokane,” Jacobson said. “We’ve been picking each other up and supporting one another all season long. We just need to do it one more time, and we can go to state. Right now, our job is really simple: We have to win one game before we lose two and we’re in.”

East Valley will play the winner of the Kennewick-West Valley-Yakima Friday in Richland.

“We had the chance to go watch them play their district games,” longtime assistant and first-year coach Rob Collins said. “I watched them play and kept thinking to myself that there was no reason at all that we couldn’t play with them and beat them.”

The Knights lost at home to West Valley-Yakima in the regional playoffs a year ago – a game they could have easily won.

Meanwhile, he said, the Wildcats face a much bigger challenge.

“Hanford was supposed to be the No. 1 seed coming out of (the Columbia Basin 3A League),” he said. “Hanford was undefeated going into the last game of the season and they lost, then lost again in the first round of their district tournament. Now they’re playing loser-out games.”

Jacobson is confident that the team’s best basketball still is in front of them. Besides, she said, the team has been facing challenges and overcoming obstacles all season long.

“I know that I still have more in me, and I think we can all still play better,” she said. “We started off 1-10 in league, but we refused to get down on ourselves then, and we won’t get down on ourselves now.”

The team held on to the way last year’s team earned a first state tournament berth and how it came within one offensive play of earning its first state trophy.

“We’ve known all along that we could do it, that we could still win our way back to state, and that’s what we all want more than anything,” Jacobson said.

The Knights finished the regular season on a 6-3 roll that included wins over Greater Spokane League Class 3A rivals Mt. Spokane and North Central to claim the No. 1 district seed.

It all started with a victory over the team’s former coach.

“The win over Central Valley was really big for us,” Jacobson said of the team’s 60-58 win at CV. “To win in their gym was really big, and to be able to go over there and beat (former EV) coach (Freddie) Rehkow was a big deal for us. That got us started.”

East Valley put together its first back-to-back streak by crushing Rogers, 71-35. A loss to Lewis and Clark did little to slow the team’s momentum. The Knights bounced back to pick off Gonzaga Prep, 47-37, and finished the season with consecutive wins over Ferris, Mt. Spokane and North Central.

Jacobson was sidelined for the team’s game against Shadle Park at Spokane Falls after injuring her groin. Still, the Knights came close to beating the Class 4A regional qualifier, falling 44-40.

The Knights must now find a way to replace Jacobson’s offense – she averaged 16 points per game down the stretch.

Collins watched his charges run drills Monday and smiled.

“Anything can happen now,” he said. “This time of year? These are the games you work so hard to be able to play.”