The highly-regarded girls from White River High School lost their offensive punch when they entered the Tacoma Dome last week, dropping two straight games to be ousted from the Class 3A state basketball championships.
“At some point in time you just have to shoot the ball well,” coach Chris Gibson said after his club lost to Cleveland High 68-57 and to the Lakes Lancers 49-41. “It just comes down to shooting the ball.”
The Hornets’ losses came March 10 and Thursday, the first two days of the four-day hoop extravaganza.
White River is as familiar with the Tacoma Dome as nearly any team in the state, this year making its 10th appearance in the last 13 seasons. The Hornets took a gaudy resumé to the dome, including a 14-2 regular season record, a South Puget Sound League 3A title and an overall mark of 20-5. In Gibson, the program has a coach with 351 career victories and a .737 winning percentage (247-87) since taking the Hornet helm.
Those big-picture statistics were lost in the short-term disappointment that stemmed from dismal numbers put up by White River during this year’s two-game stay in the state tournament.
In the opening-day loss to the Cleveland Eagles – a team that went on to capture the tournament championship – the Hornets connected on 17 of 62 shots from the field, good for 27.4 percent. Equally important was Cleveland’s dominance on the boards, registered in a 49-34 rebounding advantage.
The dismal shooting performance seemed bad only until the following day, when the Hornets hit 20.3 percent of their shots (13-of-64) against Lakes. For the second day, White River was whipped on the boards, as the Lancers enjoyed a 52-43 advantage.
“You’re not going to win a lot of basketball games with that kind of a shooting percentage,” Gibson said.
The veteran coach had a feeling his club might be in for a long night against Cleveland and his concern began the minute the Eagles stepped on the floor.
“When they walked out, they looked so physically imposing,” Gibson said. “That’s not the kind of thing you see by watching film.”
Cleveland’s physical strength proved to be a difference-maker.
“We could force a tough first shot, but they would get the rebound,” Gibson said. “We gave up too many easy baskets.”
Despite a disadvantage in the height department, the Hornets trailed just 26-25 at intermission. A rocky third quarter found White River in a 14-point hole with 3 minutes, 26 seconds remaining to be played. But the tide quickly turned and the Hornets scored nine points in less than a minute, suddenly making the game very interesting. The rally started with six straight free throws – two each by Cassidy France, Carley McCutchen and Sapra Sproul – and concluded with a Sproul 3-pointer.
Cleveland answered largely from the free-throw line, connecting on nine of 10 opportunities in the final 2:14 before missing a couple of meaningless attempts when the win was guaranteed.
For the game, Cleveland shot 45 percent from the field (24 of 53), compared with the Hornets’ 27 percent.
Sproul had a huge offensive game for White River, connecting on half of her 18 field goal attempts, four from 3-point range, on the way to a game-high 29 points. Brooke Paulson joined her in double figures, scoring 10.
The loss meant White River would be paired against a familiar foe in Lakes. Both the Hornets and Lancers compete in the SPSL 3A and had met twice during the regular season. Lakes won the first meeting, a sloppy game that featured a multitude of White River turnovers, but the Hornets bounced back for an easy 76-44 victory the second time around.
Working in White River’s favor Thursday was the absence of Stevonna Scott. Lakes’ leading scorer had been suspended from tournament play for an unspecified violation.
In the end, it didn’t make a difference as Lakes sent the Hornets packing.
Thursday’s loss was especially difficult because the Hornets led 26-18 at halftime, saw the Lancers whittle the deficit to a single point, then expanded their lead again when Sabra Sproul buried a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter. Moments later Sproul converted a traditional 3-point play, giving the Hornets a 39-32 lead.
From that point, with 5 minutes, 57 seconds remaining, White River managed only a pair of free throws. Lakes seized the momentum and secured the win by scoring 17 points during the same span.
White River’s late-game showing was 10 straight missed shots from the field.
The Lancers’ Braile Fields came up huge in the late going, scoring a dozen of her game-high 21 points in the fourth period.
Sproul finished with 17 points and Brooke Paulson added 13 in the loss.
Sidebar…
Another sidebar…
The 2010 state tournament brought an end to the prep careers of five Hornets.
Seniors on the roster include Megan McKune, Kelsi Tyler, Carley McCutchen, Jessica Bush and Hailey Menzel. McKune, Tyler and McCutchen were four-year members of the varsity program. This year, McKune was named to the all-SPSL 3A team and McCutchen earned honorable mention status.
