EV girls try to stay undefeated in league play

There’s a sound that you can only find in a practice gym where a team on a big roll is practicing.

Mirth hangs heavy in the air, ready to break out in peals of laughter at the slightest prompt, and every basketball is dribbled on an up beat. Everyone is working hard and covered in a patina of sweat, smiling all the while, and if you look closely, you can sniff out the homemade birthday cookies the coach brought to share when the work is done.

It’s the sound of a team running on mega doses of both confidence and joy.

Like at East Valley.

Monday night’s practice was winding down and coach Rob Collins looked pleased as his Lady Knights worked through preparations for their final home game of the regular season against arch-rival West Valley – a team they’ve already beaten twice.

Because the five-team Great Northern League is a healthy road trip away from its nearest Class 2A competition, the league has had to adopt a unique schedule. Clarkston, Cheney, East Valley, Pullman and West Valley all play each other three times.

“You know what everyone says: It’s tough to beat a team three straight times. Yeah, well…” Collins grins.

East Valley has been the GNL’s juggernaut this season, steaming into the final two games of the regular season unbeaten and already assured of the league championship.

 “We’ve kind of had this attitude since we beat Pullman and Cheney (last week),” junior wing/post Hannah Burland said. “We know that, no matter what happens, we’ve got it won. We still want to be undefeated because I don’t think East Valley has ever done that. But it feels good.”

Collins wants to make certain of that undefeated finish, pointing out different areas of emphasis in a final full-court scrimmage – stressing situations he thinks will likely come up against West Valley.

“It’s important that we finish this thing out the right way,” he tells them. It’s a message he doesn’t need to pass along twice.

The Eagles have given the Knights two tough games. EV won by two in overtime in the first game, 52-50, and by three in the Golden Throne spirit game, 49-46.

That alone is enough to prime his team’s pump. Looking good on Senior Night adds another reason to go out on a proud note.

But there’s more.

The heart of the East Valley girls basketball team comes directly to Collins from soccer – and that squad saw its season end on a sour note. After beating West Valley two out of three times during the regular season and once more for the district title, the Knights fell, 1-0, in a fifth meeting, this time in the first round of the state tournament.

Burland has been a big part of both seasons. She was a first-team All-GNL defender in soccer and was All-League first team on last year’s basketball team – a squad that came home with a sixth-place trophy from the state tournament.

“The way soccer ended still stings,” she said. “We’re not about to let that happen this time.”

Burland has played a different role this season. Normally a wing, she’s had to shift inside to replace injured senior Taylor Morscheck, who tore her ACL during soccer. She heads into the final week of the regular season averaging better than 17 points per game.

“Most of us played together last year,” Burland said. “In fact, I think most of us have been playing together since the third grade. By now we’re not so much teammates as we are a family.”

That’s more true for EV than most teams. Burland’s sister, Elle, is a returning starter as a sophomore, and twins Maddie and Skylar Bastin are key contributors to both soccer and basketball squads.

“Hannah has done a great job playing out of position for is,” Collins said. “We’ve got a young post that we’ve been bringing along and that’s allowed us to get Hannah out on the wing a little more. But we’re pretty young behind our starters. The first player off my bench is a freshman. The second player off my bench is a freshman and the third player is a sophomore.”

A successful final road trip Friday to Clarkston will send East Valley into the post season with a perfect, 12-0 league record and an impressive 18-2 overall mark, losing only to Post Falls and Cashmere.

“We’re so looking forward to going into the playoffs with an undefeated league record,” Burland said. “We all want to get back to state and improve on what we did last year. We’ve been pointing to that since the first day of practice.”