There are moments during the course of a basketball game that sometimes define seasons.
Or sometimes they define teams.

And it’s entirely possible that East Valley’s girls reached something of a competitive crossroad during their first-round Class 2A state tournament game Wednesday against Archbishop Murphy.

The underdog Wildcats, who had trailed throughout, had staged an 8-0 run that brought them to within two points late in the third quarter. The final six points came via 3-pointers from Krista Eknes, the latter shot deep enough to later be called “from NBA range,” by EV senior Jessica Huntington.

The Red Devils’ response?

A 17-2 burst that catapulted them to a 55-39 victory and into a 7:30 p.m. quarterfinal Thursday in the SunDome against Woodland.

“We’re supposed to keep our composure,” said Huntington, who along with her teammates did exactly that.

Easier said than done, of course, even for a team now 24-0, and one which entered the tournament sharing a No. 1 ranking with King’s.

“We really haven’t had any close games,” said coach Robi Raab, whose team’s lowest margin of victory has been 10 points. “So it was nice to see the way the kids responded after getting challenged.”

While Huntington seemed to be everywhere as the centerfielder, so to speak, in East Valley’s variety of pressing defenses, and while Brittnee Lee and Tana Stickney produced key baskets, the impressive sprint to the finish was more a collective accomplishment.

Witness the Red Devils’ scoring, with Stickney, Lee and Arianna Mohsenian totaling 12 points each. Huntington had five points, five assists and three steals as EV forced 21 turnovers while committing only 11.

The Devils’ disruptive defense also enabled them to win going away despite shooting only 24 percent (5 for 21) in the second half.

“We have five really good seniors who lead us,” Raab said of Huntington, Stickney, Brittany Alexieff, Jamie Price and Jena Jacobs. “Then we have two players in Arianna (a sophomore) and Brittnee (a junior), who are very mature for underclassmen.”

It showed after Eknes’ bombs.

Lee drove hard for a layup on the ensuing possession, and Price added a free throw before Murphy’s Ashley Reinig closed the period with a hoop that left East Valley’s lead at 39-36.

Stickney started the final quarter with another driving bucket and Lee, getting a steal off the press, was fouled and made two free throws to make it 43-36.

Another steal, this by Huntington, led to two free throws by Stickney, who followed with a field goal for a 47-36 EV advantage.

The Wildcats (19-6) got a breakaway layup from Lauren Lasswell, but Lee responded with two free throws and Huntington, after yet another steal, made two more before Alexieff capped the run with a field goal off a nifty pass from Stickney.

Only 2:36 remained, then, and with East Valley up 52-38 both coaches emptied their benches.

Allison Burns, a 5-11 sophomore, led Murphy with 10 points. But 6-0 senior Lisa Coate, who’d averaged 15 points, finished with nine while Eknes, a 13-per-game scorer coming in, had eight.

East Valley outscored the Wildcats 16-3 in the fourth quarter.

“We made some shots early,” said Lee, who hit two threes in the first quarter, “and then we stopped making them so we knew we had to go to the basket. We just have to keep working hard, playing as a team.”

One which might have defined its season and itself on Wednesday.

Archbishop Murphy -- Nelson 0-1 0-0 0, Lasswell 3-5 0-0 7, Eknes 3-8 0-0 8, Coate 3-5 3-3 9, Burns 4-8 2-2 10, Smith 1-5 1-2 3, Huggins 0-1 0-0 0, Reinig 1-3 0-2 2, Westlund 0-0 0-0 0, Jelinek 0-0 0-0 0, Shober 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-37 6-9 39.
East Valley -- Alexieff 1-7 0-0 2, Mohsenian 5-15 1-2 12, Lee 3-5 4-6 12, Price 1-2 4-6 6, Valicoff 0-1 0-0 0, Jacobs 1-1 0-0 2, Huck 1-1 0-0 2, Huntington 1-4 2-4 5, Stickney 4-10 4-5 12, Dorsett 0-0 0-0 0, Reid 1-2 0-0 2, Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 15-23 55.
Archbishop Murphy	11	11	14	3	--	39
East Valley	17	16	6	16	--	55
3-point goals--AM 3-10 (Eknes 2-7, Lasswell 1-1, Smith 0-2), EV 4-13 (Lee 2-4, Mohsenian 1-3, Huntington 1-4, Price 0-1, Alexieff 0-1). Rebounds--AM 26 (Coate 8), EV 33 (Mohsenian 7). Assists--AM 7 (Lasswell 3), EV 9 (Huntington 5). Steals--AM 5 (Reinig 5), EV 13 (Huntington 3, Mohsenian 3). Blocked shots--AM 4 (Burns 2), EV 1. Fouled out--None. Total fouls--AM 16, EV 11. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers --AM 21, EV 11.