There’s reason for excitement for the future Hudson’s Bay girls basketball.
But that future is now, too.
The Eagles are sporting their best season in recent memory, and locked up their 16th win of the season behind Thursday’s 58-44 win over Capital out of Olympia in the teams’ 3A bi-district tournament game.
And like they have all season, Thursday’s victory came on the shoulders of a trio of sophomores and a freshman running the point-guard spot. Sophomore Kamelai Powell had a game-high 19 points, and freshman Aniyah Hampton added 18 and the Eagles won their first playoff in recent memory to advance in the bi-district tournament. Bay faces defending 3A state champion Gig Harbor in a quarterfinal game that hasn’t been determined yet because of weather.
Bay hasn’t had the track record of success in girls basketball in recent years as other Clark County teams, but that could be changing. Thursday was a continuing trend that’s led to the team’s current 16-5 record: three sophomores and a freshman combined for 55 of the team’s 58 points against the Cougars.
The program has two league titles in its history, 1974 and 2007. A scene like Thursday — a home playoff game — felt extra special for players, they said, and giving them more motivation to play well in front of their home crowd for the final time this season.
“Being here and having a win really shows we’ve come up and made it a better program,” said sophomore Jaydia Martin. “It’s nice to be here.”
Not just being here, but winning, too.
Martin, one of three all-league players for the Eagles this season, scored 12 points Thursday. She and Powell were Bay’s leading scorers last season as freshmen.
One of two freshmen is Hampton, who had nine points each half against the Cougars (12-10), but had just as many impressive assists in addition to field goals. Most of Hampton’s went to Powell, Martin and Anastacia Mikaele (6 points). She was key in a 12-0 third-quarter run that gave Bay (16-5) its first double-digit lead at 33-22. Capital never got close than 10 the rest of the way.
The growth of the young team continues to climb, head coach Michael Rainville said, who was impressed by Thursday’s passing and team defense. But also on the rise is team chemistry, particularly between the underclassmen. Hampton and Martin both agreed Thursday was the best game chemistry-wise the team had all season.
Fourteen of the team’s 24 field goals were assisted.
“We’re at the point in the season,” Hampton said, “when you pass it, you know when they’re going to be there and what they’re going to do.”
Added Martin: “It’s fun when everyone is clicking like that.”
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HUDSON’S BAY 58, CAPITAL 44
Capital — Kendall Hooper 5, Regan Henry 14, Nicole Lindblom 8, Kyra Ashton 4, Robin Rohrer 2, Sydney Riedel 2, Amelia Grimsted 9, Savannah Johnson 1. Totals 19 (4) 3-5 44.
Hud. Bay — Gabrielle Garcia 3, Shelby DeLong 0, Jaydia Martin 12, Aniyah Hampton 18, Kamelai Powell 19, Anastacia Mikaele 6, Xena Le 0, Maria Mendez 0, Sadie Soumokil 0 Juliann Medrano 0, Anita Lose-Tamoua 0. Totals 24 (4) 5-8 58.
Capital 7 12 11 14 – 44
Bay 14 11 18 15 – 58
