In the end, the difference between a fifth-place trophy and the one that goes to the eighth-place team wasn't much. For the East Valley Red Devils, who came away with the latter, it ultimately came down to something that's supposed to be free.

East Valley's Yasamin Mohsenian grabs a rebound Saturday in the SunDome against Archbishop Murphy.   ANDY SAWYER/Yakima Herald-Republic   View all photos for this story.

But anybody who has ever played basketball in the nail-biting intensity of a state tournament knows a free throw is anything but.

The sixth-ranked Red Devils fell 46-41 to No. 4 Archbishop Murphy in Saturday's Class 2A fifth-place game when, after slicing a 30-17 second-half deficit to seven points late in the third quarter, they missed seven straight throws (and eight of nine), one of them the front end of a one-and-one situation.

It wasn't that the foul-line drought dug East Valley into a deep hole; it didn't, primarily because the Red Devils were holding their own at the other end. The missed free throws simply removed any chance they had of eating enough into that lead.

"If we hit some free throws," EV coach Robi Raab said, "that allows us to close the gap a little bit, apply some pressure on them and, at the same time, maybe put a little more hop in our step, boost our confidence a little bit."

Instead, the shots didn't fall, and the Bulldogs simply remained a few steps behind.

"We kind of go off and on with our free throws," said senior guard Mary Orthmann, who led East Valley (20-6) with 12 points. "Some days we're so good, and some days we're not just not hitting."

Still, though, with Annie Martinez picking up 10 points and Kaylah Gonzales coming up with five steals, the Red Devils managed to stay within striking distance.

But they simply couldn't match up with the Wildcats' 1-2 inside punch of 6-foot-2 Savannah Fletcher and 6-1 Megan Carlson, who combined for 17 rebounds in helping ATM (for Archbishop Thomas Murphy) grab a 42-31 advantage on the boards. Fletcher also scored 11 points, joining guards Nickole Bartholomew (11 points) and Shelby Lynn (10) in double figures for ATM (24-3).

Raab emptied his bench with 1:21 remaining and his team trailing 45-37, and a half-minute later -- with the score still the same -- Archbishop Murphy coach John Barhanovich did the same. Things got interesting when, led by Mikaela Zimmer, the Red Devil reserves cut the lead to four points. But Raab never considered reinserting his starters into the game, and neither did his counterpart.

"You don't do that," Raab said. "Those (reserve) kids have earned it; they've probably earned more than that. For that minute and a half, those kids got to get that real state-tournament experience, to feel what it's like playing at this level. Those kids have worked very hard, and they're our future."

As for the graduating seniors who are now the Red Devils' past -- Magaly Carrillo, Gonzales, Martinez and Orthmann -- they leave knowing they've put more hardware into East Valley's trophy case.

"Nobody really believed in us from the beginning," Orthmann said. "That was pretty much the whole theme for the season, to prove people wrong and keep on pushing and try to make it to Saturday at the state tournament. Whenever we were lagging in drills, Coach would say to us, 'Is that what you're going to do when you get to state? When you're tired and you've got nothing left in your legs?' You have to push through it. You have to keep working.

"That's what we did."