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| Published March 10, 2004 :: Home |
Red Devils Stun Blaine
What must have seemed unbelievable to hundreds in the stands was nothing but business as usual to the only ones who really counted: the girls wearing East Valley uniforms.
Their 46-42 victory over previously unbeaten Blaine — in a game that wasn’t really that close — was the Red Devils’ 12th state tournament win in a row in the SunDome, and they’ve come to expect this kind of result. “This is just our court,” said sophomore guard Jessica Huntington, whose 10 points included a pair of free throws with 40 seconds remaining that all but clinched the victory. “They’re 22-and-0 and came in here pretty confident, but we knew we could take them. They may be 22-and-0, but we’re the two-time defending champions, and we have confidence in ourselves.” East Valley had also put the first mark in the Borderites’ loss column last year, with an overtime victory in the semifinals. That game put the Devils into the championship game against Pullman — which, coincidentally, will be their quarterfinal foe at 4 p.m. Thursday. “We were so confident in ourselves,” added Jamie Sharp, the Devils’ leading scorer with 13 points. “We had nothing to lose going in. They were the undefeated team, and they wanted their revenge for last year, but we weren’t going to let them get it. We’re just as tough a team as they are.” Tougher, apparently. When the Borderites hit their first five shots of the second quarter to take a 21-18 lead, East Valley didn’t waver from its game plan of patient offense and a defense that surrounded Blaine all-state center Jessica Summers at every turn. The Devils just started doing it even better. They turned the game to their favor — for good — over the final three minutes of that period. First, Huntington hit a game-tying 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer. “We use a lot of the shot clock most of the time,” said Devils coach Robi Raab. “It’s just a part of who we are.” Then, Jena Jacobs got two big rebounds — the first on the defensive end, holding the Borderites to a one-shot possession, the second on the offensive end following a missed free throw by Huntington on the back end of a one-and-one. Jacobs scored the putback for a 3-point lead. Finally, the Devils got another offensive board in the final 30 seconds of the half, this one by Whitney Murphy, enabling them to burn nearly all of the remaining time off the clock before Murphy found Jacobs underneath for a layup an d a 26-21 lead. The Devils (20-5) would never trail again. And the only time Blaine made it close — following back-to-back baskets by Summers to open the second half — Sharp answered with a 3-pointer. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Huntington and Sharp late in the quarter pushed East Valley’s lead to double digits, and the issue was never in doubt the rest of the way. “I can’t imagine being more proud of a group of kids — what they’ve had to go through over the last eight months, their composure ... unbelievable,” said Raab, who became East Valley’s head coach following the unexpected death of Jack Cleveland. “They did everything we asked — going after the extra rebounds, squeezing off the passing lanes, doubling down, going to the hole against bigger people.” The biggest, of course, was the 6-1 Summers, a future Division I player (at Idaho) and the leading contender for Class 2A player of the year. Summers managed to come away with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but could get off only 14 shots against a defense designed to frustrate her. “I just stayed behind her and one of our guards was always in front of her,” said East Valley center Tana Stickney, who finished with nine points and a team-high six rebounds. “We were always talking out there, making sure she was doubled-down the whole time.” Blaine coach Patrick Green came away understandably impressed with East Valley. “They’re a good, strong team,” he said. “Their inside people are tough. Their guards are mentally tough. They showed us what we expected — a team that can rebound pretty well. I guess I didn’t expect them to get 16 points (on 26 attempts, to the Borderites’ 7-for-13) from the free throw line.” Shela Robertson added 14 points for the Borderites, who must try to rebound in a 9 a.m. game Thursday against Eatonville. “Their character is going to be tested more in the next couple of games,” Green said, “than it would be if they were playing in the championship game.” The Borderites can’t get there, of course. The Red Devils still can. Even if they were the only ones who truly believed they could. “Our coach gave us this little (newspaper) clipping where their coach had said they’d get their revenge this year,” Stickney said.
“We weren’t going to let it happen.”
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