YAKIMA -- There are no do-overs in basketball, but if River Ridge coach Jackie Robinson had a second chance at the final play in the Hawks’ third/fifth place girls game against Renton Saturday afternoon, he would make a change: press Renton.
“I probably would’ve kept it on for the last one,” Robinson said.
With the Hawks leading by one with 9.4 seconds left, Renton junior Taylor Farris took the inbound pass and went coast-to-coast to hit the game-winning bucket on a floater that got a friendly roll with 2.2 seconds left to give the Indians a 34-33 victory over River Ridge at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Farris torched the Hawks with a game-high 18 points and 15 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
The win gave Renton the third-place trophy, its second-best finish in school history while the Hawks (20-7) earned the fifth-place trophy, the program's seventh state trophy in nine appearances.
For the second time in less than 24 hours, the Hawks were part of late-game drama. On Friday, River Ridge held a six-point lead in the fourth quarter against top-ranked Mark Morris in the semifinal, only to have the lead slip away with the Monarchs forcing overtime in the final seconds, then prevailing in the four-minute overtime.
Robinson said his players were devastated after the loss, and senior Catriece Baker said the semifinal loss was partly to blame for the sluggish first half, in which the Hawks had more turnovers (16) than points (14). Renton ended the first half on a 7-0 run and led 22-14 at the break.
“We let that have an affect on what we did,” said Baker, one of five seniors who played their final high school game. “We might not have played our best game today, but fifth place isn’t bad."
Neither team was hot offensively. The Hawks (20-7) didn’t make a run of their own until the final quarter, when Jazzlynn Brewster jumpstarted a 10-0 run that cut a once-seven point lead by Renton into a two-point lead by River Ridge, 31-29 with 1 minutes, 24 seconds remaining.
The lead was short-lived. A free throw by Farris gave the Indians a 32-31 lead, but Brewster, who finished with 17 points, hit a pair of free throws with 9.4 seconds left that gave River Ridge a 33-32 lead.
Timeout, Renton.
That set up the final play for Farris, which started under the Hawks’ basket as she took the inbounds pass from Jordan Armstrong, who also finished in double figures for Renton with 11.
Renton 34, River Ridge 33
Ren: 10 12 7 5 -- 34
RR: 7 7 5 14 -- 33
Ren: Farris 18, Armstrong 11, McMillan 3, Fahie 2
RR: Brewster 17, McGill 6, Scott 4, Stevenson 3, Evans 2, Bernethy 1
