Shadle girls capture district crown
Shadle Park took a tip from University and parlayed it into a 41-35 victory and the District 8 3A girls basketball championship Thursday evening at U-Hi.
As a result, the Highlanders stay home against the Columbia Basin Big Nine’s No. 3 team for regional play, and the Titans must travel to play the CBBN No. 2 team.
Thursday’s game proved to be one of relentless defenses resulting in a tough shooting night. No more than four points separated either team through three quarters.
“It was a low-scoring game that was a product of two good defensive teams,” Shadle Park coach Chad Dezellem said.
“They were working hard to take Aleisha (Hathaway) away, and in basketball you have to take what it gives you.”
That was the case for Shadle Park. U-Hi (14-7) had took a 31-27 lead into the fourth quarter before the Highlanders (15-7 and winners of 12 of their last 15 games) ran off the first 11 points of the final period for a 38-31 lead that would be the largest of the night.
During the run Paige Reidt made back-to-back baskets, one a 3-pointer. Hathaway capped it with a three-point play.
The Titans got as close as 38-35 with 2:27 remaining on a pair of Kaleigh Valley baskets. But a clutch rebound by Shadle 5-foot-11 sophomore Peighton DeVon following a missed U-Hi layin was her most important of seven second-half boards. She then scored at the other end with 1:10 remaining to effectively settle the game.
“It’s hard to keep up with all our seniors but I was determined,” she said. “I wanted the seniors to go to state and had to do my part.”
University’s defense did a good job of holding Hathaway to nine points.
“I’ve been shooting the 3 well and I think they were not wanting me to get my shot up,” she said. “Peighton really stepped up for us when we needed it.”
So did Kaycee Hert, who scored a team 11 points, including a 3-pointer to start the fourth-quarter rally.
Valley, a Titans junior, scored 22 points and grabbed a dozen rebounds, but it wasn’t quite enough.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we played them again,” Hathaway said.
District 7 2A
Clarkston 79, Pullman 67: Jamie Weisner scored 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the top-seeded Bantams into the district championship game with a victory over the fifth-seeded Greyhounds at Clarkston.
Clarkston plays second-seeded Cheney to determine the top two seeds to regionals tonight at 6 at Central Valley. Sixth-seeded plays Pullman at 1 p.m. Saturday in a loser-out game that sends the winner on as the No. 3 regional seed.
The Bantams (20-1) scored 28 points in the third quarter to go up by 17 points. The Greyhounds (9-12) rallied to make it a two-possession game in the final 2 1/2 minutes but Clarkston converted on 9 of 12 free throws to seal the win.
Sierra Higheagle scored 22 points for Clarkston and KC McConnell added 11 along with nine rebounds.
Dakota Wickard scored 16 points, Emily Drake 15 and Anna Guo 10 for Pullman.
Cheney 43, West Valley 40: Coreen Labish sank 5 of 6 free throws in the fourth quarter and made what proved to be the winning layup in the last 30 seconds as the second-seeded Blackhawks (11-10) rallied to down the sixth-seeded Eagles (7-15) in a semifinal game played at Cheney.
Jenae Martin scored eight of her 13 points in the third quarter to help the Eagles overtake the Blackhawks and lead 34-32 at the end of the period. The game went back and forth when Mandy McDowell hit a 3-pointer with a minute left to put Cheney up 40-39. Martin made a free throw to tie the game before Labish’s layup.
West Valley turned the ball over and Cheney’s Mikayla Vergo was fouled in the final 10 seconds while grabbing her 19th rebound. She made one free throw to account for the final score.
Labish finished with 13 points and Vergo 12.