PUYALLUP – Anyone who didn’t know the Washougal girls basketball team had every reason to think it was over.
Here were the Panthers, having scored only 11 points in one half.
Their two best players were a combined 1 for 17 from the field.
Oh, and they were trailing by nine to a White River team that had won 15 straight and were considered a top contender for the Class 2A state title.
But Saturday’s Class 2A state playoff game was far from over. Not for these Panthers, the Cardiac Cats that they are.
So Washougal rallied and forced overtime. That’s when anyone who knows these Panthers knew it was over.
Washougal won its third straight overtime game Saturday, beating White River 40-34 at Puyallup High School.
Playing in its first state tournament since 1983, the Panthers are among the final eight teams headed to Yakima in the Hardwood Classic.
To get there, Washougal (20-5) has won three straight loser-out games in overtime. Prior to Saturday, the Panthers beat W.F. West and Hockinson to claim the last of three state berths at the District 4 tournament.
Saturday, the Panthers didn’t allow a point in overtime to a White River team that had made the state tournament 16 of the past 18 years.
“We were talking about this on the way up, we’ve been playing tournament basketball since the fifth grade,” senior guard RaeAnn Allen said. “We’ve got the legs for it, we’ve got the willpower. We knew going in that it was going to be ours.”
Washougal can thank both its steely defense and nerves. But coach Brian Oberg felt the team also had a guardian angel.
He said Dave Cox, the father of Washougal athletic director Doug Cox, had died on Saturday. The elder Cox had been a fixture at Washougal games over the years.
“We told them that today there are lots of reasons to go out and win this game,” Oberg said. “If Dave had been here today, he would have been beside himself.”
But Saturday hardly started out well. Allen and fellow senior Alyssa Blankenship were ice cold in the first half. Shot after shot clanked off the rim, if they even hit the rim at all.
With those two shooting 1 for 17, Washougal was 4 for 27 (14.8 percent) from the field in the first half.
But despite being dealt a bad hand on offense, the Panthers had an ace in the hole – their defense. White River (21-4) shot just 25 percent in the first half and led 20-11.
“This group, we’ve been taught since we were little that defense wins championships,” Allen said. “Our goal was just defend, defend, defend and we finally got some offense going.”
Blankenship didn’t shy away from shooting. She scored six points in the third quarter as Washougal pulled within 25-23.
She too channeled her first-half frustration into her defense.
“I knew I had to play tough defense and that eventually the offense would come,” said Blankenship, who scored a team-high 12 points.
Washougal pulled ahead 28-27 on a Beyonce Bea free throw with 5:14 left in regulation. But White River struck back, taking a 34-29 lead with 3:30 to play.
That would be the last time White River scored.
After Blankenship made two free throws, Lindsey Thomas tied the game with a 3-pointer from in front of Washougal’s bench with 54 seconds left in regulation.
Oberg knew it was going in the whole time.
“When I happen to be standing behind her, she makes every one,” he said. “I saw the line on the shot and said ‘that’s going in.’”
In overtime, neither team scored for 3:14 of the four-minute period. Then Allen put Washougal ahead with a jumper from the free throw line.
White River misfired on the other end and was forced to foul. Washougal then sealed the game by making four free throws in the final 30 seconds.
In the second half and overtime, Washougal’s full-court press gave White River fits. The Hornets often struggled to get the ball across midcourt.
The team from Buckley had relied all year on 6-foot-2 forwards Kendall Bird and Darian Gore. But while Bird scored 15 on Saturday, Gore was held to just two points.
“They were gassed,” Oberg said of White River. “All year we’ve been drilling our footwork. It’s a lot of side to side. The girls hate me. But it’s all about cutting off angles and keeping in front of the ball handler.”
Washougal will find out Sunday who it will play in the quarterfinals on Thursday. But whoever they play, you can’t count out the Panthers while they’re on such a thrill ride.
“I just want to take in as much of the experience as I can,” Blankenship said.
WASHOUGAL 40, WHITE RIVER 34, OT
WASHOUGAL (20-5) – Maggie Hungerford 0, Beyonce Bea 8, Lindsey Thomas 4, RaeAnn Allen 9, Ashley Gibbons 2, Kaitlyn Reijonen 0, Alissa Lenczowski 3, Sierra Carroll 2, Alyssa Blankenship 12. Totals 13 (2) 12-23 40.
WHITE RIVER (21-4) – Chloe Narolski 0, Maci Goethals 0, Kayla Howard 0, Lucy Rasmussen 2, Georgia Lavinder 1, Kendall Bird 15, Darian Gore 2, Sofia Lavinder 0, Sydney Andersen 14. Totals 14 (4) 2-8 34.
Washougal 8 3 12 11 6 — 40
White River 12 8 5 9 0 — 34
