The trophy case at White River High just became a bit more crowded.
By winning two of three games in the Yakima Valley SunDome, home to the Class 2A state basketball tournament, coach Chris Gibson and his Hornet girls hauled home fourth-place honors. Two seasons ago, it was a third-place trophy the program added to the display.
Of course, top honors are nothing new for one of the state’s elite programs. Since 1999, the Hornets have appeared in 14 of 16 state tournaments.
In qualifying for the three-day tourney in Yakima, the Hornets had already landed in the state’s Elite Eight. The first day in the dome didn’t go according to Hornet hopes, as White River lost to familiar foe River Ridge. Day Two brought a victory over Lake Washington and Saturday’s finale, a battle for fourth or sixth, resulted in a victory over East Valley-Spokane.
White River 62, East Valley-Yakima 55
Saturday, March 8
This one didn’t come easy, despite the Hornets’ holding the lead for the final three quarters. There were bright spots along the way – where White River bolted into double-digit leads – and worrisome times as well. A comfortable, second-quarter lead, for example, was slashed to a single point in the third frame.
In the end, the victory might have come at the free-throw line, where the Hornets had a whopping 43 attempts and made good on 25. East Valley had plenty of opportunities, too, stepping to the stripe 37 times and connecting on 15.
The contest added to the growing reputation of Hornet freshman Kendall Bird, who finished with a game-high 23 points. It was her second time topping 20 points, landing her on the all-tourney second team.
In the final game of her junior season, Amanda Lance finished with 17 points.
White River scoring: Kendall Bird 23, Amanda Lance 17, Kristin Sturdivan 7, Bailey Mills 6, Maci Goethals 6, Darian Gore 2, Lucy Rasmussen 1.
White River 52, Lake Washington 50
Friday, March 7
In a loser-goes-home contest, it was the Hornets who wouldn’t be denied.
By outscoring the Kangaroos 21-15 during the critical second quarter, White River was able to survive the final 16 minutes and live to play another day.
As would be the case the following day, the Hornets enjoyed frequent trips to the free-throw line. In the end, White River outscored the Kangs 20-8 from the stripe.
White River pushed to a 10-point lead midway through the third frame, going up 37-27, but had to endure some nervous final moments. The contest was tied at 47 with four minutes remaining, but the Hornets earned a bit of breathing room thanks to a bucket and two free throws by Lance. Lake Washington pulled to within 51-50 but, after Sturdivan added another free throw, the Kangaroos were guilty of two turnovers in the final seconds.
White River scoring: Amanda Lance 22, Kristin Sturdivan 13, Kendall Bird 13, Darian Gore 3, Ashlea Mills 1.
Mark Morris 80, White River 60
Thursday, March 6
Round One wasn’t a pleasant experience for the Hornets, who suffered a 20-point loss to the Monarchs.
The two had met in December, when Mark Morris hung a 22-point, nonleague loss on White River. The 75 points in that game were the most the Hornets had given up all season, eclipsed only by Thursday’s 80-point debacle.
The two seemed evenly-matched during Thursday’s initial quarter, each putting together six-point runs. White River’s Maci Goethals came off the bench to bury a 3-pointer, cutting the Hornets’ deficit to just 17-14 as time expired.
Things started to unravel in the second quarter when the Monarchs’ defensive pressure gave White River fits. The Hornets made too many mistakes, Mark Morris hit some well-placed 3-pointers and, by intermission, the team from Longview enjoyed a double-digit, 39-26 lead.
As the second half unfolded, things only got worse for White River. Midway through the frame, the Monarchs put together a string of 12 unanswered points and exploded to a 53-32 lead. Sparked by two more Goethals 3-pointers, the Hornets attempted to rally, but never could get closer than 14 points.
As the teams ran through a perfunctory fourth quarter, the continuing story of the game was the play of the Monarchs’ Ashley Coons, who added three 3-pointers and a total of 13 points in the final eight minutes. She finished with a game-high 30 points. Teammate Kourtney Easton added to the damage with 25 points.
White River’s only consistent offensive threat was Bird. A first-team, all-South Puget Sound League 2A performer, she finished with 21 points. Goethals, with a quartet of 3-point bombs, tallied 12.
For the game, the Hornet girls connected on 39 percent of their 2-point attempts, while Mark Morris was good on 54 percent. The Monarchs hit nine 3-pointers to White River’s seven and each scored 13 from the free-throw line.
White River scoring: Kendall Bird 21, Maci Goethals 12, Amanda Lance 8, Kristin Sturdivan 8, Darian Gore 7, Bailey Mills 2, Lucy Rasmussen 2.
