By Kevin Hanson

Editor

In a field of just eight teams – the Elite Eight in the state of Washington – there’s little room for error.

That was made painfully clear to White River High, which lost games Thursday and Friday at the Class 2A state basketball championships. After surviving regional state games the weekend before, the top eight gathered at the Yakima Valley SunDome to determine the best of the best.

Familiar participants in the Class 3A state tourney, White River was making its first journey into the smaller, 2A tournament.

White River’s path wasn’t easy, as the opening round opponent was No. 1-ranked Prosser, a team that proved the experts right by winning three straight games to capture the state title. That path started with a 59-44, Thursday triumph over the Hornets. Friday brought the end of the line for White River, in the form of a 47-42 loss to Lynden in a loser-out battle.

Focusing on the successful journey to the Elite Eight rather than the disappointing final two days, coach Chris Gibson said he was proud of the way his Hornets continued to battle, even when things looked bleak.

The Yakima experience brought to an end the high school careers of five Hornets. Brooke Paulson and Sabra Sproul were mainstays of the team, both four-year varsity performers. Also a senior starter was Rani Wiegand, a transfer who played just one year for White River. Rounding out the senior crew were reserves Kelley O’Brien and Sierra Gulla.

Prosser 59, White River 44

White River outscored the top-ranked Mustangs during the middle quarters of Thursday’s game, but that wasn’t nearly enough to secure a victory.

Prosser bolted to a 15-0, first-period lead and White River managed only two buckets in the final seven and a half minutes of the game, resulting in a 15-point loss for the Hornets.

Thursday’s game was a nightmare from the beginning, as Prosser used the first four minutes to put 15 points on the board while the Hornets were blanked. When they snapped out of their offensive fog, it was Paulson leading the way; the senior sharpshooter buried three 3-pointers in a little more than two minutes.

The Mustangs continued their roll and managed a 24-9 lead by the end of the first period.

The second quarter was the best of the night for White River. The Hornets went on a 12-3 run that sliced Prosser’s lead to six points, with Paulson adding seven more points during the quarter. Prosser regained its momentum to keep its lead, but Hornet reserve O’Brien nailed a late 3-pointer to send the teams into halftime with White River trailing by a manageable 36-28.

The Hornets’ run of success ended with intermission and the Mustangs outscored White River in both the third and fourth quarters.

The Hornets still had life when Wiegand scored twice in the opening 45 seconds of the fourth quarter, cutting Prosser’s lead to 10 points. But those were the last hoops the Hornets would score, as White River managed just three free throws the rest of the way.

The final statistics told the story. The Hornets shot poorly, connecting on just five of 31 shots from 2-point range, or 16 percent. They were better on 3-pointers, making six of 20. The Mustangs buried 20 or 44 shots from inside the arc and were 21 of 53 overall.

Paulson was White River’s leading scorer, adding one point in the second half to finish with 17. Wiegand managed eight points in the second half and finished with 10.

Prosser outrebounded White River 55-39.

Lynden 47, White River 42

Unlike Thursday’s game, where White River started by giving up the first 15 points, things went well early against Lynden. The Hornets ran to a 12-0 lead, took a 23-18 advantage into the locker room at halftime and stayed ahead until midway through the fourth quarter.

That’s when a couple of key developments made all the difference. A pair of Lion 3-pointers tied the game at 40 with 3 minutes, 30 seconds remaining, but it was a series at the Lions’ offensive end with a little more than two minutes to play that was the back-breaker. With the Hornets clinging to a 42-41 lead, Lynden missed three straight shots but hauled in three offensive rebounds, finally scoring on a fourth attempt.

“That was the killer,” Gibson said. “We had some poor possessions after that.”

Having given up the lead, the Hornets did not score the rest of the way. It didn’t help that Wiegand had already fouled out by that point and Paulson was whistled to the bench in the final minute.

In her final game, Paulson was the Hornets’ leading scorer with 13 points. Sophomore Kennedy Hobert added 12.