Mindi Winters, Zillah’s young first-year head coach, can easily slip into an emotional state when dwelling on the qualities of her girls basketball team.

Especially when the topic of resiliency comes up.

“That’s one of the things I absolutely love about these girls,” she said with eyes brightening. “They never give up. This is a team full of heart.”

As evidenced Friday night when playing on a stage few thought the Leopards would ever reach this season.

Down by nine midway through the third quarter to fifth-ranked Bellevue Christian, Zillah’s undaunted crew fought and rallied for a late lead only to yield in the final seconds of a 36-34 semifinal loss to the Vikings in the Class 1A state tournament.

Melissa Reich, BC’s 6-foot-2 college-recruit post, banked in a layup off a pass from Fierra Patton with 17 seconds left to break a tie game.

Zillah senior Rondelle Guthrie launched a 3-point attempt with two seconds remaining but the shot glanced off the rim and Reich snarred the rebound.

Bellevue Christian (23-1) will take its 17-game win streak into Saturday’s 9 o’clock championship game against Colfax, which will be trying for its third straight title.

The upstart Leopards (18-9) will play for third and sixth Saturday at 5 p.m. against White Pass.

“We’re always saying, ‘Play to the last buzzer,’ and it came down to that,” said BC coach Beth Campbell. “Zillah’s a great team and they bring a lot of pressure. It took a lot of heart for our kids to handle that.”

Bidding to reach the championship final for the first time since the 1976 girls team did it, Zillah appeared to be in trouble when the Vikings scored the first seven points of the second half to open a 29-20 lead.

But over the last five minutes of the third quarter, the Leopards’ defense went to work. BC went 0-for-7 from the field and Zillah used an 8-0 run to pull within 29-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

Zillah’s precocious freshman, 6-1 Rosebud Guthrie, connected on three straight shots -- two of them over Reich -- in the final period. Her third basket pushed the Leopards into the lead at 34-33 with 5:17 to play.

That’s when BC’s defense took over as Zillah closed the game missing its final eight shots.

“Our defense at the end made the difference for us,” Campbell said. “To hold a team as good as Zillah to 34 points, that was a big effort.”

Zillah’s zone defense did a respectable job against Reich, who’s headed to Seattle Pacific University. Making 5 of 13 shots, the four-year veteran scored 10 of her 14 points in the first half. She managed only two field goals in the second half but the last one was obviously a big one.

The Vikings repeatedly whipped the ball around the perimeter looking for passing lanes to Reich but were rarely about to find her in the second half. On BC’s final play, Patton drove along the left baseline and lobbed a perfect touch pass to Reich for the game winner.

“That was huge for Fierra. She worked hard for that,” Campbell said.

Reich gathered 13 rebounds but Zillah tied BC in that statistic, 34-34.

Everybody pitched in for Zillah, which got 11 points from Tefini Uasike, seven rebounds from Lacey Wentz, six assists from Rondelle Guthrie and 4-for-8 shooting from Gentry Affholter.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, winning some big games and losing a few we shouldn’t,” Winters said. “But these girls always bounce back. That’s why I know we’ll come out and play a good game tomorrow.”

Zillah -- Wentz 0-6 0-0 0, Ziegler 0-1 0-0 0, Torrez 0-0 0-0 0, Affholter 4-8 0-0 9, Schilperoort 0-0 0-0 0, Ron. Guthrie 3-14 0-0 6, Uasike 5-10 0-2 11, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Gonzales 0-5 0-0 0, Ros. Guthrie 4-10 0-0 8. Totals 16-54 0-2 34.
Bellevue Christian -- Patton 2-4 1-2 5, L. Orrestad 0-1 0-0 0, Rech 1-1 0-0 2, Brog 0-2 0-0 0, Teng 4-11 0-0 9, King 2-5 0-0 6, Oldham 0-1 0-2 0, J. Orrestad 0-3 0-0 0, Reich 5-13 4-5 14. Totals 14-41 5-9 36.
Zillah	11	9	8	6	--	34
Bellevue Christian	13	9	7	7	--	36
3-point goals--Z 2-18 (Uasike 1-3, Affholter 1-4, Wentz 0-1, Gonzales 0-1, Ron. Guthrie 0-9), BC 3-12 (King 2-4, Teng 1-5, J. Orrestad 0-1, Brog 0-2). Rebounds--Z 34 (Wentz 7), BC 34 (Reich 13). Assists--Z 12 (Ron. Guthrie 6), BC 8 (Teng 5). Steals--Z 8 (Ron. Guthrie 2), BC 5 (Reich 3). Blocked shots--Z 2, BC 4 (Reich 2). Fouled out--None. Total fouls--Z 10, BC 9. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--Z 14, BC 16.