Photos
The Hawks use their speed, quickness, tough-nosed defense and balanced scoring to overpower Prosser, 57-46 in the Class 2A state title game Saturday night.
By winning their third state title in four seasons, the Hawks have become a dynasty in girls basketball. Since the Hawks’ first 3A state berth in 2004, River Ridge has gone 19-6 at the state tournament and appeared in four state title games.
For four players – Kelsey Russell, Jennifer Cole, Jasmine McDonald and Natasha Trinidad – it was their second state title in three seasons.
As the state tournament progressed, the bigger the game, the better River Ridge performed. To go from shooting 19 percent in a 47-44 win over Lynden in the opening round to outplaying Prosser in the high-stakes state title game says a lot about the Hawks.
“They can just turn it on,” River Ridge coach Tom Kelly said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
For Kelly, this state title was a first for him, too. He spent the previous 20 seasons at White Pass, where the Panthers’ best performance was a state semifinal.
In its first three state games, Prosser was able to shut down the opposing team’s top player, which helped the seventh-ranked Mustangs defeat second-ranked and previously-unbeaten West Valley (Spokane) in the semifinals to reach the 2A title game for the third time in school history.
But facing River Ridge? Taking away one player meant a Hawks teammate had more room to maneuver.
“We got better with each game here, but River Ridge shot a little better than we expected,” Prosser coach Mark Little said.
River Ridge doesn’t have a dominant player, but the Hawks have a balanced, deep team that works well together.
They earned the big prize with their balance.McDonald led the tournament in minutes played (121), the only Hawk to be in the top five in any statistical category. Three other players made the top 10 in six categories.
Cole was named tournament MVP and had a team-high 16 points, five rebounds and two blocks Saturday. Jasmine McDonald sister Samira McDonald each had 11 points.
Before the Mustangs could blink, it was 10-2 in favor of River Ridge with 3 minutes, 56 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Monteaka Norwood’s 3-pointer seven seconds into the game got things rolling for River Ridge.
And just when Prosser tied it at 28, the Hawks went on a 13-0 run that included hitting six consecutive field goal tries.
Tears of happiness and amazement got the best of Russell, who was embraced by her older sister, Sophie, after the title game.
The Russell sisters have each won a pair of state titles.
“It feels like all the hard work paid off,” Kelsey Russell said. “It feels so complete … it’s perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better … couldn’t ask for a better team, a better coaching staff. Everything feels so right.”
2A all-tournament teams
Point guard Samira McDonald joined Cole on the girls all-tournament team.
Other members of the first team were Prosser’s Tamara Jones, Pullman’s Shelby Cheslek and Shanique Nilles of West Valley (Spokane).
The boys tournament MVP was Squalicum’s Derek Dickerson, who was one of three Storm players to make the all-tournament team, joining Michael Green and Patrick Voeut. Other first team members were Ephrata’s Patrick Simon and Burlington-Edison’s Evan Coulter.
The all-tournament teams were voted on by media members covering the tournaments.
Sportsmanship creates buzz
A classy act of sportsmanship by the Black Hills girls basketball team was a highlight at the state tournament.
Following the Wolves’ 54-44 loser-out defeat to Archbishop Murphy on Thursday, the team took sportsmanship to another level.
After every game, one player from each team is awarded a sportsmanship medallion. Carmen Jenkins earned the sportsmanship medallion for Black Hills, but it didn’t stop there.
Prior to the game, the team voted unanimously to give a sportsmanship medallion to Julie Hata, a volunteer who sweeps the floor and keeps the officials hydrated between timeouts.
Jenkins, on behalf of the Black Hills team, gave Hata, who has a disability, a sportsmanship medallion.
Both teams and fans applauded.
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473
mwochnick@theolympian.com
