CV Gets Revenge On Kamiakin First Win In Three Tries Puts Bears In Semis

FROM SPORTS SECTION page C2 (Saturday, March 15, 1997): Replay Kamiakin won the 1985 girls State AAA high school basketball tournament. A story in Friday’s final edition incorrectly said the Braves had never won a state championship.

Kamiakin’s relentless pressure has destroyed most teams all year.

Thursday night it destroyed the Braves.

Burdened with a 25-game winning streak, a No. 1 ranking and a haunting memory, the Braves shot themselves out of an opportunity to win their first state championship when the fourth-ranked Central Valley Bears whipped them 54-30 in the girls State AAA basketball tournament in the Kingdome.

Central Valley not only handled the pressure, the Bears turned it back on the Braves, using the skills of point guard Rikki Jackson, who handled the press and found the hot hand in a large offensive arsenal.

“We’ve been pressured so much lately, it doesn’t bother us any more,” Jackson said. “It’s hard to beat a good team three times.”

Kamiakin - with a pair of four-point wins over CV this season already knew that after beating Mead twice last year before losing to the Panthers in the state championship game.

With that seed planted, the Braves went out and shot 13 percent in the first half, 18 percent for the game, and never got untracked.

“Basically it comes from trying too hard, pressing too much,” Kamiakin coach Kevin Estes said. “The danger of playing a team three times, when the first two times were close, is you try to turn it up a notch and you turn it up too much.”

“There was more pressure on them,” CV senior Ginger Clark said. “We had nothing to lose, everything to gain.”

What the Bears gained is a semifinal berth at 6:30 tonight against No. 8 Foss (24-3), which beat Auburn 46-36.

The other Greater Spokane league entry didn’t fare as well.

Gonzaga Prep’s season came to an excruciating end when the Bullpups rallied from 15 down only to fall to Eastlake 61-57.

“We just didn’t hit the right shot at the right time,” Prep senior Jennifer Williams said. “We did a good job, we gave ourselves a chance to win the game.”

Central Valley 54, Kamiakin 30

The Bears (23-5) won the game in the second quarter when they scored just five points but only lost four points of their lead. Then they buried the Braves with a tremendous blitz in the first 2-1/2 minutes of the third quarter.

Crystal Lee opened the second half with a 3 from the right wing for a 26-15 lead. Jenny Coyle matched that, Lee hit two free throws and, after a Kamiakin basket, Coyle, who had 10 points and nine rebounds, swished a rainbow from the right corner, making it 34-17.

CV only made one more basket in the third quarter, but Kamiakin was in the process of a 7:48 drought with 10 misses and four turnovers. The lead reached 42-17 when Lee drained a 3 from the top of the key with 6:23 to play.

“At halftime, we knew they’re such a great team that we had to come out more fired up in the second half,” Clark said.

The lead was 48-19 midway through the final quarter.

“We had the confidence to beat them,” said Lee, who had 16 points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists. “The last time we played them we shot horrible. Right from the beginning we knew it would be different. In the second quarter we had two starters in foul trouble and our offense went stagnant.”

The Bears raced to an 18-6 lead at the end of the first quarter when Jackson hoisted an off-balance, no-look, buzzer-beating, NBA 3.

In the second quarter the Bears went almost 3 minutes before Coyle scored. But Kamiakin missed its first seven shots, closing only to 18-10.

The Bears remained cold and committed too many turnovers and fouls, but the Braves only got within 23-15 because they hit just 4 of 9 free throws. Meanwhile, , Andrea Kallas and Jackson picked up their third fouls.

However, the Bears didn’t pick up any fouls in the third quarter and buried the Braves with a more energized and aggressive defense that didn’t allow many good looks.

“We changed a couple of small details,” CV coach Dale Poffenroth said about the earlier meetings. “At halftime we made a mental adjustment. The girls were a little chippy. But they rested and got their legs back under them.”

Jackson finished with 13 points, six assists and four steals.

Kristen Willis led Kamiakin with 10 points and six steals and Emily Autrey had 14 rebounds, none on the offensive end, where the Braves wasted a 24-7 edge because of poor shooting.

CV 54, Kamiakin 30

Central Valley 18 5 13 18 - 54

Kamiakin 6 9 2 13 - 30

CENTRAL VALLEY Phinney 0 0-2 0, Donaldson 0 2-2 2, Grafos 0 0-1 0, Clark 2 2-4 6, Shoquist 0 0-0 0, Kallas 2 0-0 5, J.Coyle 4 0-0 10, Jackson 4 2-2 13, Lee 3 8-10 16, Bragdon 0 0-0 0, P.Coyle 0 0-0 0, Liepman 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 14-21 54.

KAMIAKIN K.Albano 0 0-2 0, Keatts 2 0-1 6, Erikson 2 0-0 4, Ramsgate 1 2-5 4, Willis 3 3-6 10, Anglesey 0 0-0 0, Shaw 0 0-0 0, Autrey 3 0-0 6. Totals 11 5-14 30.

3-point goals - Kallas, J.Coyle 2, Jackson 3, Lee 2, Keatts 2, Willis. Total fouls - CV 14, Kamiakin 15. Fouled out - none.

Eastlake 61, Gonzaga Prep 57

The Bullpups only had three turnovers in the first quarter when they built a 13-10 lead, but by the half the miscues were up to 11 and they trailed 32-24.

“We don’t mean to do it,” Prep senior Theresa Palmer said. “It’s not like we’re not trying hard, we play with heart all the time. We just don’t get the shots off we need to.”

The bulge was still 10 with 3:11 to go but Eastlake had enough turnovers to keep giving the Bullpups chances. Williams made three baskets in a 9-1 run to give Prep its final opportunity.

The Bullpups had the ball under their basket with 12 seconds left but Lisa Bradley was stripped of it dribbling into the lane. After a Prep foul, Kim Sorenson drained two free throws with 4 seconds left to seal the win for the Wolves.

“They show a lot of character when they get in a hole,” Prep coach Mike Arte said. “I’m proud of them. They didn’t give up. We just didn’t play very well. That’s what dug the hole for us.”

Williams finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Palmer had 19 points and nine rebounds, but Kim Sorenson and Trish Huffman had 20 apiece for Eastlake. The Wolves made 17 of 26 free throws to 12 of 23 for the Bullpups.

“There’s a lot of great memories,” Williams said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Gonzaga Prep 13 11 12 23 - 59

Eastlake 10 22 17 14 - 63

GONZAGA PREP Green 0 1-2 1, Bradley 2 2-4 6, Thorn 5 1-5 11, Jordan 0 0-1 0, Williams 8 1-2 17, Nadeau 2 0-0 5, Palmer 6 7-9 19. Totals 23 12-23 59.

EASTLAKE Cushman 0 1-2 1, Omatsu 0 0-0 0, VonLehman 0 0-0 0, Thompson 1 2-2 4, Lervick 0 0-0 0, Sorenson 7 6-10 20, Huffman 8 4-5 20, Lotfi 1 3-4 5, Ingalls 6 1-3 13, Kilroy 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 17-26 63.

3-point goals - Nadeau. Total fouls - GP 18, Eastlake 17. Fouled out - Thorn, Williams.

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