 |
Last year, after the West Valley Lady Eagles came home from the 2A state basketball tournament without a trophy, coach Lorin Carlon had this to say to his team: “Now you’ve got a taste of it.”
Apparently, the Eagles liked the flavor so much they went back to bite the once top-ranked Prosser Mustangs and take the third-place trophy.
“They were a lot more relaxed,” Carlon said of his players, who stiffened up on Day 3 to lose to eventual first-placer Lynden to get knocked out of championship contention after victories Wednesday and Thursday of last week. “What a great tournament.”
And what a convincing win. After struggling at times in all three earlier games at the Yakima SunDome, the Lady Eagles were all smiles and firing on all cylinders, keeping the Mustangs on the defensive and leading by as much as 28 points over the course of the game.
Carlon said the key was his big players all stepping up at the right time and adjusting to the ever-changing offensive pressure by Lynden’s forwards.
“(Nikki) Lawless hadn’t had a great tournament until today,” the coach said of his junior forward, who generally feasts on treys, after the final win while his team celebrated around him. Lawless had nine points off of threefers in the game and 12 overall.
“And Shaq was just Shaq,” Carlon said.
Shaq is shorthand for sophomore Shaniqua Nilles, a leading scorer for the Eagles who found a way around the Mustangs’ defense in the second half to come up with 19 points altogether. She also gobbled up nine rebounds.
Also coming up big when her teammates needed her most was high-percentage player Hannah Love, another sophomore, who had 16 points in the game and a strong first two quarters to help her team lead 31-20 at the half.
The struggling Mustangs couldn’t get any momentum in the second half, and the score was 51-28 at the end of the third. During the midpoint of the fourth quarter, Prosser’s entire team was substituted to no avail.
For Carlon, the success of the game came right down to the players he’s counted on all year.
“We’ve really been playing only seven kids all year,” he said, adding that his team consists of largely freshmen and sophomores. “They’re only going to get better.”
The Eagles started the tournament March 11 on an up note, as well, after coming from behind to take out Burlington-Edison after being down 13-1 in the first quarter.
After holding the Tigers in rein for most of the second half, West Valley eventually took the lead in the third quarter after Love nailed a three-pointer. Forcing 17 turnovers, WV eventually got the 34-29 win in the low-scoring affair.
The Eagles also struggled at times with Hockinson the next day, but eventually saw themselves through to get the 50-46 victory to earn their first semifinal berth since winning the 2A title in 1997.
Still, the game was a good one for Nilles, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Love added another 11 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore Mallorie Schoesler also was 6-for-6 at the free-throw line.
While it could have been the wear of having to play for a third game in a row in the SunDome, the Lynden Lions had a lot of momentum and tricks up their sleeves on their march to the state 2A championship. As such, it shouldn’t be too surprising that the Eagles more than had their hands full in the 45-35 loss Friday.
West Valley got off to a good start, going 18-13 in the second quarter after a 7-0 run in the second quarter to an uncharacteristically flat Lynden team. After a timeout, however, the Lions roared back and took control in the second half.
A 10-run in the third quarter proved a tough hurdle for the Eagles to get over despite a fourth-quarter rally that saw WV getting as close as 34-32.
Pullman, the team the Eagles bested in district play to earn the top seed to state, finished the season in eighth place after a 62-55 loss to Othello on Saturday.
Nilles earned recognition by being named second-team all-tournament. West Valley finishes the season 21-6.
|
|
By
Mike Huffman
