It was first things first for Naches Valley’s girls Friday and that was a sad thing, because the Rangers had to contemplate a season-ending defeat in the SunDome.

But later, after the sting of a 47-44 loss to Chelan in the Class 2A state tournament had worn off, coach Cris Wilmarth and his players were allowed to consider the big picture. And that was a glad thing.

Naches Valley, after all, had risen from the very bottom of the CWAC South and was only three seasons removed from a 1-19 record in Wilmarth’s first year as coach.

This year the Rangers finished 22-5.

“That does help,” Wilmarth said, on being reminded of his program’s progression from 1-19 to 9-11 and to 14-8 before this season. “We’ve had so me great kids who have worked really hard.”

They worked hard Friday, too. But Chelan (24-2), which meets Woodland (24-2) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday for fourth and seventh places, was considered a contender coming in and, before Thursday night’s quarterfinal loss to King’s, had been beaten only by East Valley.

And even though Naches Valley was strong out of the gate, parlaying numerous steals and layups into a 16-3 lead, a glaring rebounding disparity and 15 percent second-half shooting proved fatal.

While the Rangers got 20 points from Monique Wickenhagen and 13 from Megan Mortimer, their multi-talented junior backcourt tandem, the Goats got 12 each from Erika Hanson, Cassy Pilkington and Kristin Schramm.

“The start of the game was just the way we wanted it,” Wilmarth said. “We had the pace we wanted and we were out running and scoring, but in the second half things slowed down. And that wasn’t in our favor.”

At the outset, when Chelan tried to pass over the top of Naches Valley’s zone defense, Wickenhagen and others alertly picked them off and sped goalward. Five of the Rangers’ 11 first-half steals came in the first four minutes and keyed their lead.

Even after the Goats adjusted, NV held a 29-22 halftime advantage with Wickenhagen scoring the final four points of the second quarter to total 16 at the break.

It was 31-24, Rangers, after Mortimer scored with 5:16 left in the third period, but Chelan rolled up the next 11 points to gain the upper hand.

Hanson hit several foul-line jumpers, finishing 6 for 7 from the field, and Pilkington and Schramm led the Goats’ 48-26 rebounding advantage with nine and eight retrieves, respectively.

The latter statistic enabled Chelan to advance despite committing 28 turnovers to Naches Valley’s 13.

“Rebounding was the difference,” Wilmarth said.
Next season the Rangers will be without Ali Tabor, Jessica Gengler and Liz Evans — seniors on this year’s team. But they’ll also compete at the Class 1A level and, with Wickenhagen and Mortimer leading nine returning varsity members, Naches Valley’s future is bright.

“We’ve raised the bar,” Wickenhagen said, “so we have more to work for now.”

Chelan -- Harris 0-0 3-6 3, Watson 0-3 1-2 1, Barth 2-5 3-4 7, Hanson 6-7 0-0 12, Pilkinton 5-13 1-2 12, Schramm 4-11 2-5 12, Love 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 17-40 10-20 47.
Naches Valley -- Mortimer 5-21 1-4 13, Wickenhagen 8-18 3-4 20, Tabor 2-6 0-1 4, Root 0-0 0-0 0, Schmidt 0-1 0-0 0, Gengler 0-2 0-0 0, Powers 1-3 0-2 2, Huck 1-7 3-4 5, Evans 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-58 7-15 44.
Chelan	9	13	13	12	--	47
Naches Valley	18	11	2	13	--	44
3-point goals--C 3-11 (Schramm 2-6, Pilkinton 1-5), NV 3-16 (Mortimer 2-10, Wickenhagen 1-4, Gengler 0-1, Huck 0-1). Rebounds--C 48 (Pilkinton 9, Schramm 8), NV 26 (Huck 6). Assists--C 10 (Love 2, Schramm 2, Pilkinton 2, Watson 2, Harris 2), NV 5 (Huck 3). Steals--C 9 (Pilkinton 4), NV 13 (Mortimer 4, Wickenhagen 4). Blocked shots--C 3, NV 0. Fouled out--Tabor. Total fouls--C 14, NV 19. Technical fouls --None. Turnovers--C 28, NV 13.