Freshman Fireplug Sparks Sprague-Harrington To Win

Bobby Thompson may have hit the “shot heard ‘round the world” for the New York Giants in the 1951 baseball playoffs, but Noel Hatten did him one better.

The freshman guard hit a pair fourth-quarter 3-point shots heard ‘round the Arena on Thursday night to spark the Sprague-Harrington Falcons to a 46-35 victory over the Sunnyside Christian Knights in the late session of the girls State B basketball tournament.

Sprague-Harrington moves into the semifinal round and will face defending champion Ritzville at 8:30 tonight.

Ritzville steamrolled to a 46-26 victory over Morton in the evening’s finale.

The Broncos beat the Falcons twice this year by an average of 18 points.

Hatten, who stands just 5-feet, 1-inch, nailed back-to-back bombs to rally the Falcons from a two-point deficit to a four-point lead.

“That little guard of theirs just killed us,” stated Knights coach Al Smeenk. “Those two shots she made broke our backs. We picked the wrong time to leave her open.”

It was an offensive struggle all night long for both teams. Sprague-Harrington shot a dismal 28 percent (17-60) from the floor for the game and made just 9 of 17 free throws.

“I don’t know what our problem was,” said Falcons coach Stacia Soliday. “That’s the way we’ve played all season. We play lousy for three quarters and then turn it on in the fourth quarter.”

Although Sunnyside Christian shot an impressive 49 percent from the field, they managed to get off only 33 shots for the game.

That was due to a relentless, in-your-face defensive attack by Sprague-Harrington that forced the Knights into 32 turnovers.

“Their press really affected us,” said Smeenk. “In our league we don’t see a lot of presses. I thought we would be able to handle it, but they were too quick. When you see them come out on the floor they look young and frail, but they really fool you.”

After taking a 17-16 lead into halftime the Falcons ran into some trouble in the third period.

The Knights came out and lit it up over the first 4:35, outscoring S-H 13-4 to take a 29-21 lead.

But the Falcons scored eight straight points over the final 1:50 to tie it at 29 heading into the final stanza.

The two teams traded baskets through the first 5:12 of the fourth quarter. Sara Den Hoed’s drive down the lane for two put the Knights up 35-33 and gave them the all-important momentum … for 10 seconds.

Hatten buried the first of her 3-pointers at 2:38 and added the second one at the 2-minute mark and momentum shifted to S-H’s side the rest of the way.

“It was a lot of fun to make those shots,” noted Hatten. “I’d been missing a lot earlier, so I was glad I could do something to help out the team.”

Not bad for a freshman.

Hatten also managed to grab six rebounds, the biggest coming on the offensive end with 1:15 left to play and her team clinging to a four-point lead.

“Noel’s had some big games for us,” stated Soliday. “She needs to be open to get off her shot because she’s so small. But when she gets a good look at the basket she can make them.”

Just ask Sunnyside Christian.

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