Nighthawks battle back for 5th

TEKOA/OAKESDALE collected the fifth place 2B trophy at the SunDome after battling back through the consolation bracket. In front are Courtenay Perry, Managers Haley Brown and Madison Shrope, Katherine Goom, Kim Pakootas, Kaela Dewan, Alex Overton, and Katie Renstrom. Team members in back, from the left, are Assistant Coach Brandy Brown, Kayler Dub, Cherisse Neill, Ruth Haynes, Bryanna Solano, Katie Graffis, Desiree Chappell, Myrannda Neill, and Coach Angie Rambo.

Tekoa/ Oakesdale Nighthawks battled back all the way to a fifth-place finish Saturday in the 2B division of the state finals. The `hawks, who were spilled by Northwest Christian in the first round Friday, just kept picking up wins and getting stronger as they battled back through the consolation bracket.

“They just knew what they had to do, and they did it. I give them a lot of credit,” Coach Angie Rambo noted.

After losing their first match, the Nighthawks avoided elimination by taking wins over Mossyrock and Darrington to get into the trophy game.

Tekoa/Oakesdale finished with a three-game power win over Bear Creek of Redmond. Coach Rambo said that rated as the strongest match of the campaign for the `hawks who rolled to Yakima as the top qualifier out of the SE rounds at Dayton.

The real endurance test for the `hawks came against Darrington in their first game Saturday.

“They were just a very persistent team. They didn’t give up,” Rambo commented on the Loggers.

The `hawks defeated Darrington in four games after the Loggers pulled out a 26-24 edge in the third game.

“We just passed the ball very well against them and that made a lot of the difference.” Rambo said.

She noted the Nighthawks were a little tense before the Darrington battle, but after they took the four gamer they seemed to hit the glide path for the trophy round win over Bear Creek.

Before playing Darrington, the Nighthawks averted elimination with a four game battle over Mossy Rock in their second game. They dropped Mossy Rock, 25-14 in the first game, but the District 4 team came to life for a 28-26 win in the second game.

Northwest Christian, which derailed the Nighthawks in the first round Friday, advanced all the way to the title game where they were defeated in three games by Colfax.

Tekoa/Oakesdale will graduate five seniors off this years SE title team. The grads will include SE MVP Desiree Chappell, Kim Pakootas, Katie Graffis, Bryanna Solano, and Sara Warner.