EV girls lose touch in 2nd half

SEATTLE – Things were looking good for the East Valley girls basketball team.

With a six-point halftime lead against Hudson’s Bay in Wednesday’s first round of State 3A tournament play, the Knights were ahead despite an off-shooting half.

But when East Valley came back on the court for the second half, things changed drastically.

Scoring just eight points, the Knights find themselves in the losers’ bracket after a 49-31 loss to Hudson’s Bay (20-6).

“We came out strong, but we missed a lot of opportunities,” EV coach Freddie Rehkow said. “Instead of an eight-point lead, we should have had a 16-point lead. Then we came out real flat and they got on it. When you score eight points in the second half …”

The Knights (10-15) also shot just 15.8 percent in that low-scoring second half, scoring five points in the third quarter and three in the fourth.

Hudson’s Bay also capitalized on 11 second-half East Valley turnovers, converting them into 17 points.

“(Hudson’s Bay) earned it in the second half,” Rehkow said.

Eagles guard Amber Sylvester led all scorers with 15 points while teammate Jazmine Foreman had 13.

No Knights scored in double digits, with senior Ashley Grater leading the way with six points.

“We lost big, but that was not evidence of who we are,” Rehkow said. “Now they’ve got their backs against the wall.”

East Valley advances to the loser-out half of the bracket, where the Knights face Kennedy today at 10:30 a.m. The Lancers come off a 55-40 loss to undefeated Meadowdale.

As for records, the Knights came into the tournament discounted by many because of their sub-.500 record, despite six of those losses coming to three 4A tournament teams: Lewis and Clark, University and Mead.

“I still think we’re a team that should have been a little better than that,” Rehkow said. “That was disappointing. We’ve got to bounce back.”

For the program’s first girls state tournament berth, the Knights knew it would be a bit of a wake-up call coming into a venue like the KeyArena and playing against the strongest teams in the state. It’s a tough job for any team, especially ones new to the atmosphere.

“You walk into KeyArena and it’s a special thing,” Rehkow said.

Although the players may have been a bit in awe at the beginning, Hudson’s Bay had a face familiar to many East Valley folks: former Ferris coach Art Rojas.

After spending 10 years at Ferris, Rojas moved to Vancouver and took the Eagles to the program’s first state tournament in his inaugural year.