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

Eagles power to semifinals

Michael Anderson Correspondent

YAKIMA – As West Valley’s Eagles headed to Yakima for the State 2A girls basketball tournament, their goal was simple – stay all week.

The Eagles assured themselves of doing just that with a 50-46 quarterfinal win over Hockinson on Thursday in the SunDome.

For West Valley (20-5) the win means the second semifinal berth in school history – the last was in 1997 when the Eagles won the AA title. Today’s opponent will be fourth-ranked Lynden.

After a disappointing 2008 state trip in which they lost two straight games after winning their opener, WV head coach Lorin Carlon said his charges were focused on getting to the trophy round.

Perhaps as gratifying, their five-game postseason win streak renders meaningless their third-place finish in the Great Northern League and renders meaningless two regular-season losses each to Clarkston and Pullman, the teams they beat in the district semifinals and finals.

The Eagles advanced because they relentlessly stuck to their plan – get the ball inside to 5-foot-11 sophomore post Shanique Nilles. She responded with 19 points and 11 rebounds and co-post standout Hannah Love had 11 points and 14 rebounds.

“We didn’t think they could guard Shaq (Nilles) in there,” Carlon said, gesturing to the key on the SunDome court. “We wanted to get her one on one in the paint.”

Had the Eagles made more of their inside opportunities, the score might not have been so close. West Valley hit just 16 of 51 shots from the floor and Love and Nilles combined to miss 20 of their 31 attempts.

“We had a lot of good shots, we just couldn’t make them,” Carlon said.

Thankfully for Caron and the Eagles, that shooting wasn’t contagious.

As the clock wound down and the Eagles needed to dispatch the Hawks, sophomore Mallorie Schoesler came up big at the free-throw line. The young guard hit six straight free throws and Nilles added four in the final period.

Pullman 56, River Ridge 41: Holding the two-time defending champions to just 20 percent shooting in the second half, fifth-ranked Pullman advanced in the consolation bracket.

The Greyhounds (21-4) will play Bellingham (14-13) in this morning’s consolation bracket with a spot in Saturday’s trophy round up for grabs.

The Greyhounds limited River Ridge to five field goals in the second half and held the Hawks scoreless for the final 3:18.

Shelby Cheslek was again a force for Pullman. The 6-foot-4 sophomore had 16 points and 17 rebounds after pulling down 14 rebounds in the first-round loss to Archbishop Murphy.

Erika Hanson added 15 points and Jordan Levenseller had 10 for Pullman.