East posts 3 wins

For four Pullman Greyhounds, Saturday’s girls all-state basketball series at East Valley High School was an opportunity to exorcise some bad memories.

Jessica Thomas, Cory Druffel, Alyssa Garro and Kirsi Voshell led Pullman to a 21-0 record, but lost back-to-back games to Clarkston and Cheney in the District 7 2A tournament to see their season end a game shy of the state tournament.

“It was so hard to see our season end the way it did,” Thomas said. “To lose was hard, but to lose two games by a single point really hurt.

“To get a chance to play together again was amazing – it gave us a chance to replace some of those memories with some much better ones.”

Thomas clinched the East’s 85-83 victory by pulling down a defensive rebound with a second left in the game, thwarting a comeback attempt by a West squad led by the game’s Most Valuable Player, Lakes forward Sara Halasz.

The Greyhound quartet had their reunion to start the second half, joined by guard Kelli McCann-Smith, who helped engineer Clarkston’s one-point win over Pullman in the district championship game.

“It was so good to get the chance for the four of us to play together, and having Kelli in the floor with us was good,” Thomas said. “Even though she’s from our rival, we play pick-up games together all the time and she’s one of my best friends. She fit right in.”

As important as the reunion was, Thomas said, it was just as much fun to see how well the Great Northern League represented itself.

“Our league really showed that we can play with anyone,” she said. “Look down our roster and you not only had the four of us from Pullman, but Medical Lake, Deer Park, Cheney and Clarkston all were represented.

“What was so great about playing here was that we all know each other’s games. From the very start, we meshed really well and our games flowed. It was nice to get the chance to play together for once before we go back to playing head-to-head.”

And, for the most part, those representatives will return in 2007-08.

Thomas, Druffel and Voshell all return for Pullman. Kyle Miller, who scored seven points Saturday, returns for her senior year at Cheney, and McCann-Smith heads back for her sophomore season with the Bantams.

Prosser’s Claire Raap led the East effort with 16 points.

Halasz earned MVP honors by scoring 15 points, including a 3-pointer in the final minute that cut the East lead to a single point, and pulling down an equal number of rebounds. Amanda Seeling, a 6-foot center from Kellogg, led all scorers with 19 points and added 14 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Newport’s Alicia Smith scored 14 points and grabbed 11 boards and Colfax’s Jordan Harazin added 18 points and seven rebounds to lead the East to an 80-64 win in the Class 1A game.

Both Smith and Harazin will return for their senior seasons at their respective schools – with Harazin in search of a fourth straight State 1A championship and a fifth straight title win for Colfax.

The day’s high scorer was the East squad in the Class B contest.

LaSalle teammates Molly McGree and Jasmine Stohr led the East to a 91-72 win.

McGree, who averaged 11 points and nine rebounds per game as a senior, pumped in 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The 6-0 Stohr, who earned the game’s MVP award, scored 14 points, grabbed nine boards, blocked three shots and added a steal.

Sprague-Harrington’s Roni Mielke added 10 points and five rebounds to the East effort.