By PAUL SHUGAR
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Emma Newhouse knows bittersweet tears taste just as salty as any other, but they run down her face and around a big smile that is anything but sour.

The Sunnyside Christian girls made the Class 1B state championship game Friday with a 60-41 victory against Colton. A semifinal win in which every member of the team saw time as coach Al Smeenk emptied the bench in the fourth quarter so all the girls took the SunDome floor.

Newhouse was the lone exception, sitting in her chair with a large knee brace after tearing her ACL against Moses Lake Christian on Jan. 30 with two games remaining on the schedule. She still jumped up with the rest of the bench players and moved toward the scorers' table, sending a begging glance toward Smeenk that tugs on his heart.

"She wants desperately to be a part of this," said Smeenk, whose SC team is in the middle of an even better state run than the one that helped them finish fourth at the Class B tournament last season. "She's so competitive and I can tell she wants to be out there."

The 5-foot-8 junior was the team's second highest scorer, averaging 8.6 points per game, when the injury that takes only a second and requires months of rehabilitation struck. Listed as a forward on the Knights' roster, Newhouse can do everything from post up inside, bring the ball up the floor and move outside and knock down the 3-pointer.

Then there is all that heart and gritty defensive play that is part of all the players on the SC team. The former she leaned on heavily while sitting on the bench in full uniform, cheering her teammates into the championship game and looking ready to play if not for a completely severed ligament.

"It would be better if I couldn't walk because I would know I can't play," Newhouse said. "I can walk and shoot around at practice, and that is really hard."

In the small world that is a Class 1B school, her teammates help her with the pain on and off the court. Melanie Van Wingerden and Hilary Bosma stepped in together to fill her spot, and Andrea Schutt, usually a 6-0 post, spends a little more time away from the paint depending on Smeenk's lineup.

The one thing the injury doesn't take away is Newhouse's leadership. She's often yelling at defenders to get their hands up alongside Smeenk; she spreads her fresh energy among her weary teammates before they play their third game in as many days.

"She does a little bit of everything, ..." teammate Brittany den Hoed said. "She's a vocal leader. She's encouraging and she says what needs to be said. She's not going to be afraid to say it."

There are tears, understandable for a high school player getting a lesson in how sometimes life isn't fair. She cried after the team's come-from-behind victory against Inchelium in the quarterfinals Thursday, but no one on the team claimed she is throwing a "pity party."

She just wants to be on the court, and there is no saying whether Newhouse will get to make a proper appearance in the SunDome before having surgery March 15. Thoughts Smeenk carries in the back of his mind for today's championship game against Sprague-Harrington, a team she helped hand its only defeat in the first round of the Class B state tournament last year.

Trout Lake-Glenwood, in a showing of great sportsmanship, allowed her to take a deserved bow in the district championship game. A moment Smeenk orchestrated late in the contest to get her a layup, trading a free look for the Mustangs in a 60-43 SC victory.

Memories of this basket brought tears to Newhouse's eyes; the same drops she tried to fight off after Friday's semifinal victory. She spent all those long hours at practice, she was on the court for only two of the team's three losses and she helped defeat defending Class B state champion La Salle 57-52 earlier this season.

She is the missing weapon that makes the tournament run so special no matter what happens in today's championship game. A part of the team that everybody involved wishes they had on the court.

"I don't like it when she shoots (3-pointers) and I watch her swish them," said Smeenk of recent practices. "I tell her in practice that she needs to slow down, but she know what she can do.

"She just wants to keep going."

There is nothing bitter about that.