Highlanders return to state

Second in state a year ago, Shadle Park’s girls basketball team is state-bound again.

Sparked by Jenna Humphrey’s career night, the Highlanders got the better of a physical up-and-down game against East Valley to win the 3A regional title 54-41 at Rogers and qualify for state next week in Tacoma.

EV plays Hanford, a 52-42 victor over West Valley-Yakima, today at 3:45 p.m. at Rogers for the second State 3A tourney berth.

There was little in the way of finesse in this game. Bodies clanged – with little called except the trivial – and both teams were on the run.

After an early Shadle advantage, the lead went back and forth before Humphrey put on a first-half show. She scored 14 of her career-high 19 points and closed out the second quarter with three made free throws, a basket and two half-ending 3-pointers, the last with 2 seconds remaining, for a 34-22 lead that was too much for EV to overcome.

“I usually don’t shoot that much,” the Highlanders senior said. “I usually get the other people to score. But I knew we had to win.”

She then hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game and scored another basket to hold the Knights at bay in the third quarter while most of the other Shadle starters were sitting in foul trouble.

The banging came to a head in the fourth quarter when EV’s Amber Swyers and Shadle’s Aleisha Hathaway were assessed a double flagrant technical foul and ejected. Both schools protested the severity of the call in hopes that Swyers won’t have to sit out today’s game and Hathaway on Wednesday.

EV had made a late third-quarter run to cut a once-15 point deficit to eight, but Chelsea Chandler’s 3-pointer followed by a Kendra Knutson score made it 52-36 with 4 minutes, 40 seconds remaining, and the game was well in hand.

“I can’t say enough about the kids,” Shadle coach Chad Dezellem said. “We have good underclass talent, but the seniors have been solid all year long.”

He said Humphrey, in emulating her older brother Zack, a Community Colleges of Spokane player, has that potential to score.

“She said she was going to land ready,” he said.

EV had beaten Shadle the last time the teams played. This time, however, Shadle tried to push the tempo, leading to the fast and sometimes out-of-control pace.

“It’s nice to go to state again,” Dezellem said. “We’ve got a great group of kids and they deserve the opportunity to go over and see what they can do.”