[ t o u r n e y t o w n . c o m -- East Valley 44, Pullman 31]

Pullman -- Shaheen 0-1 0-0 0, And. Muehling 3-9 2-3 10, Ang. Muehling 2-7 0-0 5, Willey 0-0 0-0 0, Petersen 0-4 0-0 0, Lehmitz 0-0 0-0 0, McCain 0-2 1-2 1, Graham 0-3 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Troutt 2-3 5-9 9, Smith 2-4 0-0 4, Hornfelt 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 10-37 8-14 31.

East Valley -- Newland 0-2 0-0 0, Ducre 1-7 0-0 3, Shattuck 0-0 0-0 0, Sharp 1-10 3-4 6, Murphy 0-0 0-0 0, A. Stickney 0-1 0-0 0, Wyss 0-0 0-0 0, Ibach 5-8 4-5 17, Huntington 0-1 0-0 0, Downs 6-9 3-5 15, Mullen 1-5 1-2 3, T. Stickney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-43 11-16 44.

Pullman

East Valley

3-point goals--P 3-8 (And. Muehling 2-3, Ang. Muehling 1-4, Peterson 0-1), EV 5-18 (Ibach 3-4, Ducre 1-4, Sharp 1-8, Newland 0-1, A. Stickney 0-1). Rebounds--P 32 (Smith 6, Hornfelt 5), EV 31 (Ducre 6, Downs 5). Assists--P 2, EV 8 (Ibach 3). Steals--P 6 (Ang. Muehling 2), EV 9 (Ibach 4). Blocked shots--P 3 (Graham 2), EV 4 (Downs 3). Fouled out--Mullen. Total fouls--P 17, EV 15. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers --P 20, EV 15.

By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

At East Valley, the possession arrow is an ally.

You know, pressure an opponent into bouncing the ball of a foot or making a pass just a bit too quickly. The ball is then loose on the floor and the Red Devils who get after it typically outnumber their foes.

Even if the referee calls a jump, then, it’s a 50-50 chance that EV will get the ball. So you do the math.

And that’s not the half of it (pun intended), regarding the Red Devils’ patented style of persistent, pressure defense. Other times they flat out steal the ball, block a shot or force a miss, and the game becomes just like Saturday night’s 44-31 victory over Pullman.

On another evening in another building, it would have been a routine Red Devil victory. This time, in the Yakima Valley SunDome, it meant a second consecutive Class 2A state girls championship in front of a near-capacity crowd.

“Our program,” a hoarse coach Jack Cleveland said as tears flowed and flashbulbs popped, “is defense. It’s been that way in all the time I’ve been coaching and it will stay that way as long as I’m coaching.”

During Cleveland’s six seasons at East Valley, the Red Devils have been running roughshod.

Each time they have gone to state and each time they have won a trophy. And over the last two seasons, after which EV has taken home the big gold ball, the Devils’ tournament record under Cleveland stands at 19-5.

The state title was the school’s fourth overall, and East Valley’s girls became the first Valley program to win back-to-back championships since Grandview’s boys did so in 1989-90.

This season’s EV squad finished 26-2. Pullman was 21-6.

“It feels great to go out on a winning note, especially to win another state championship,” said 6-foot-3 senior La Donna Downs, who along with tourney co-MVP Angie Ibach controlled things for East Valley. “Angie and I needed to get all the girls pumped up and ready do do this.”

They were ready, all right.

After two overtime wins and a 3-pointer in regulation, the title victory was a comapartive cruise.

The Devils never trailed, led 13-1 and 20-11 and, though the Greyhounds fought throughout, were never really in danger.

Even when Angela Muehling, one of Pullman’s perimeter snipers, hit a 3-pointer that brought the Hounds to within 25-23 with 2:48 left in the third quarter. Because Ibach answered with a 3-ball of her own and Downs added two free throws for a 30-23 advantage.

In the final period, after another Ibach triple had made it 38-28 with 5:40 to go, East Valley’s offense flatlined for a bit. For 3:46, in fact.

No biggee. Pullman didn’t score during that span, either.
So the final minutes ticked away, Cleveland removed his starters to the screams of EV’s crowd and, with 15.5 seconds to play after Downs hit one last jumper off the glass, the true celebration began.

Ibach, the irrepressible 5-8 senior guard, led all scorers with 17 points while adding four rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Downs added 15 points, five boards, three blocks and numerous alterations of Pullman shots around the basket. Hitting 6 of 9 field goals, Downs was named All-Tournament second team.

“It’s been amazing to watch how La Donna has grown from her freshman year to her senior year,” Cleveland said. “She was running things out there, directing traffic. And she intimidated anyone who came into the paint.”

To be sure, Pullman missed more than its share of shots from both near and far. The Greyhounds finished with a 27 percent field goal mark.

And after nailing 14 3-pointers en route to the title game, Pullman was so tightly defended on the perimeter that it didn’t even attempt a long ball until 5:51 of the second quarter.

It missed, of course.

“We had what we thought were some good shots, some good looks,” Greyhounds coach Jack Brossman said. “But we just missed them. We even had some really short shots in the post that only drew air.”

Andrea Muehling had the most offensive success of any Pullman player, managing 10 points on 3 of 9 shooting. She made two of the Greyhounds’ three 3-pointers.

“I knew from the get-go that if we worked hard, something good would happen,” said Danielle Ducre, one of five EV seniors. “I always believed that, and this is our payoff.”
Said Cleveland, “It was tough, but we knew it would be. We’ve told the kids all year, if it was easy, anybody could do it. Personally, it took me 33 years to win a state title. And now I’ve got two of ’em.”

Cleveland, of course, had some health problems during the season and it has been speculated that he might not return.

Was Saturday night’s game his last?

“Could’ve been,” Cleveland said. “This would be a nice way to go out. The problem is I’m such a basketball junkie that you just never know.”

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