YAKIMA — The Seton Catholic girls basketball team’s season came to an end Friday with a 64-61 loss to Naches Valley in the consolation round of the Class 1A state tournament.
It was a tough defeat for the team looking to secure the first state trophy in program history. The Cougars led 52-35 at the start of the fourth quarter.
“These girls, they left everything they had out on the court,” head coach Phil Kent said. “They were just out of gas. Hats off to Naches. They kept coming at us. They got a roll going and we just had nothing left.”
Seton Catholic (19-8) clinched its first trip to the Yakima Valley SunDome with an opening round win over Zillah last week. That clinched a berth in the quarterfinals, where the Cougars fell to 48-39 to Annie Wright on Thursday.
“When you get to the Elite Eight, there’s no easy wins,” Kent said. “You saw that today and yesterday where you have to finish.”
Kent hopes his team, which starts four juniors, will use this week’s state tournament experience to set the bar for next season.
“Number one, recognize and appreciate how hard it is to get here,” he said. “This was a long, tough, hard-fought journey.”
Riley Seymer, who scored 15 points, is part of a junior class that reached the opening round of the state tournament the previous two years. She said Friday’s loss increased the Cougars’ hunger to return to Yakima.
“We hadn’t been able to get over that hump,” Seymer said. “This year we finally did. We got to play two games in the dome. It was excited and amazing. …Next year, coming into it, we know how it feels to be here. The fact that we did lose makes it that much more of a goal now.”
Seton’s lone starting senior, Hailey Hammerstrom said she felt a mix of sadness, pride and excitement.
“Obviously we’re sad about this loss, but I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else,” she said. “This junior class is going to excel in the next year. I can’t wait to watch it.”
Seton Catholic started fast behind Remy Jenniges, who scored 16 of her 21 points in the first half, including four 3-pointers. Madison Lee added 14 points, including a 3-pointer that put the Cougars ahead 45-29 midway through the third quarter.
Naches Valley rallied behind Maddy Jewett, who scored 11 of her game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter. Denali St. Martin hit a 3-pointer to put the Rangers ahead 60-59 with 42 seconds to play.
Turnovers on Seton’s next two possessions cleared the way for Naches Valley (22-7) to play in the fourth-place game Saturday against Zillah.
NACHES VALLEY 64, SETON CATHOLIC 61
NACHES VALLEY (22-7) — Addi VanWagoner 0, Emary Rowe 0, Ellie Best 8, Denali St. Martin 8, Emmaria Medonza 4, Bella Rowe 3, Kaitlyn VanAmburg 0, Finley Hahn-Keenan 7, Maddy Jewett 34, MK St. Martin 0. Totals 21 (5) 17-33 64.
SETON CATHOLIC (19-8) — Madison Lee 14, Kingsley Williams 0, CJ Moore 0, Naomi Jackson 2, Remy Jenniges 21, Tegan Figueroa 0, Tiffany Sheldon 2, Emma Whitehouse 4, Hailey Hammerstrom 3, Riley Seymer 15. Totals 20 (9) 12-14 61.
Naches Valley 9 14 12 29 — 64
Seton Catholic 16 20 16 9 — 61
