RIDGEFIELD — Two months ago, the Spudder girls were just happy to get a Dec. 20 win after losing eight straight to start their season.
But fast-forward to mid-February, and Ridgefield was dousing its coaching staff with water bottles in jubilant celebration after clinching a state tournament berth with a 57-37 win over Black Hills Wednesday.
The victory in what was a loser-out contest ensures Ridgefield will be one of the final 16 2A teams for the second straight season.
“We’re just coming together as a team,” junior Sava Chanda said. “We started out 0-8 and we had a run and just really came together.”
The Spudders left little doubt from tip-off, racing out to a 9-1 lead behind fastbreak opportunities created by steals from Sava Chanda, Abigail Vance, Madison Ingham and Nora Martin.
Chanda was the beneficiary in the scoring column, scoring a quick seven points and never letting up, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Ridgefield built a 21-9 lead after one quarter behind Chanda’s 10 points.
The second quarter belonged to Allie Doman, who came off the bench and scored eight points in the period to push the Spudder lead to 35-21 at intermission.
The Spudders weren’t content to match buckets in the second half. Instead, Ingham scored a quick seven points and Ridgefield subsequently built a 44-23 lead two minutes into the third quarter.
The fourth quarter only delayed the inevitable celebration that Ingham said was capped by dousing the coaches with water in the locker room.
Ingham led all scorers with 19 points. Josie Hicks added 10 points for Ridgefield.
Ridgefield joins Columbia River, W.F. West and Woodland as the four District 4 representatives in the 2A Girls State Tournament. Their win, coupled with Woodland’s victory over Mark Morris later Wednesday, means the 2A GSHL will send three of those four teams.
Playing in such a competitive league helped prepare Ridgefield for the postseason, Chanda said.
“It’s definitely competitive so that’s how we got a lot better,” she said.
Ridgefield, led by mostly underclassmen, finds itself state bound despite a retooled roster.
“I feel like we lost most of our repetition last year, so to come back and still have that repetition again is really cool,” Ingham said.
The Spudders will learn their first round opponent on Sunday. But no matter the opponent, Ridgefield expects to bring its best.
“Whenever we play, we always go hard,” Chanda said. “No matter the team, just always go hard.”
The Wolves were led by Ellie Johnson’s 11 points and 13 rebounds. Black Hills was eliminated with the loss.
RIDGEFIELD 57, BLACK HILLS 37
BLACK HILLS—Natalie Buchanan 4, Megan Dolby 0, Ellie Johnson 11, Tyler Venable 11, Haley McMahon 2, Kiley McMahon 9. Totals 11 (3) 10-15 37.
RIDGEFIELD—Abigail Vance 0, Madison Ingham 19, Nora Martin 2, Allie Doman 8, Baylee Bushnell 0, Sava Chanda 17, Raina Larson 0, Casey Lehnertz 0, Josie Hicks 10, Addie Thompson 0. Totals 27 (5) 6-8 57.
Black Hills 9 12 3 13 — 37
Ridgefield 21 14 13 9 — 57
