State 2A/1A: West Valley girls upend top-seeded Tumwater in the State 2A tournament
YAKIMA – So, about that quarterfinal showdown between top-seeded Tumwater and No. 2 Ellensburg – it ain’t happening.
Ninth-ranked West Valley, of Spokane Valley, knocked off the No. 1 Thunderbirds 56-52 in the State 2A tournament Wednesday in the Yakima Valley SunDome.
“We’ve been top six or seven the whole year and nobody has given us respect,” West Valley coach Rick Jones said, still soaking from the postgame celebration in the locker room. “I just told the girls to keep a sour taste in your mouth and let’s show what we’re capable of doing. We’ve got a team very capable of making a run at it.”
West Valley’s run smacks into second-seeded and unbeaten Ellensburg in Thursday’s quarterfinals at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs have given up 40 or more points just once this season.
“They’re trying to be undefeated and some have already said that they’re supposed to be playing for the title,” Jones said. “We’re in a situation where nobody is expecting us to win, so we can keep having fun playing and see what happens.”
West Valley and Tumwater went back and forth Wednesday with neither getting the comfort of much separation.
The Eagles picked up a six-point advantage on back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore Chloe DeHaro in a 13-second span early in the third quarter, but Tumwater answered with a 7-0 run to regain the lead.
DeHaro hit another 3-pointer to put the Eagles in front 51-50 with 1:41 left . Isabella Lund answered to give the Thunderbirds their last lead of the game.
Tumwater missed its last two shots and had three turnovers in the final moments while West Valley made 4 of 6 free throws to seal the victory.
WV senior post Aliyah Henry had a game-high 17 points and seven rebounds and DeHaro connected on all three of her 3-pointers and had 16 points to lead the Eagles, who improved to 21-2.
“It was great for West Valley because we were the underdogs, so everybody kind of looked past us,” DeHaro said. “But we just showed a lower seed can take down a first seed.”
Lund topped Tumwater with 13 points and Aubrey Amendala added 11.
The Thunderbirds (22-3) dropped their last two games of the season. No. 8 Burlington-Edison upset Tumwater 52-47 in last week’s regionals.
State 1A boys
(4) Freeman 58, (12) King’s Way Christian 41: Taylor Wells scored a game-high 13 points to top four Scotties (22-2) in double figures as they outscored the Knights 22-9 in the fourth quarter en route to a quarterfinal matchup with No. 3 Life Christian at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday. Boen Phillips and Ryan Russell had 12 points apiece for Freeman. Giovanny Evanson scored a game-high 28 points for King’s Way Christian, which finished the season 16-6.
State 1A girls
(6) Freeman 43, (11) King’s 40 (OT): Maddy Phillips scored 12 points, Sianna Gilbert added 10 and the Scotties (15-5) eliminated the Knights (17-8) in overtime in a first-round game. Freeman, which erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit, faces fourth-seeded Montesano in a quarterfinal on Thursday at 3:45 p.m. Jaycee Goldsmith had nine points and 13 boards for Freeman.
(7) Colville 39, (15) La Center 26: The Crimson Hawks held the Wildcats to 10 first-half points to advance to the quarterfinals. They’ll meet top-ranked Lynden Christian at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Jordyn True led Colville (16-4) with 10 points and McKenna Reggear added nine points and 11 rebounds. La Center, which finished the season 16-7, got a game-high 18 points from Kylee Stephens.