Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
In a postseason journey which took them from one side of Washington to the other, the St.John-Endicott girls finished with a state fourth-place trophy.
St. John-Endicott’s Gretchan Van Lith penetrates against Shoreline Christian.
In the loser-out Regionals, they traveled to Lynnwood and beat Tulalip Heritage.
At Spokane Arena last weekend, they lost in the opening round then beat Yakama Nation and Shoreline Christian in two days of 8 a.m. games.
“It’s pretty exhilirating, I’m very proud of my team,” said senior guard Devan Bafus.
“I knew my team could do it. This whole experience, how I got to participate in it and a fourth-place trophy of course.”
In the fourth-place game, Gretchan Van Lith led the team.
One of her 3-pointers opened up an early lead for the Eagles in the second quarter which they held until the end.
Later in the second quarter, Eagles coach Marv Schmick signaled for a timeout from the sideline. He kept his hands up and the referee didn’t see him. In the meantime, Bafus hit a three-pointer for 21-12.
Van Lith scored on an inside rebound and putback 23-12 before the Crusaders answered for 23-15 at halftime.
Van Lith then opened the third quarter with a three-pointer to put the Eagles up by 11.
Shoreline Christian kept it within 10 points until Bafus made a three-pointer for 32-20 at the end of the third quarter.
The Eagles band kicked into “The Final Countdown” during the quarter-break and the team came out and built their lead.
Van Lith scored inside and then Rachel Gfeller made a nice turnaround six-footer before Shoreline Christian cut into their lead.
With 58 seconds left, S.C.’s Natalie McPherson scored on a two-foot shot to narrow the score to 36-30.
Shoreline Christian started fouling and Van Lith made two free throws to put the Eagles back up by eight, then another with 39 seconds to keep them ahead by seven.
The clock ticked and the Eagle’s Sami Bailey got a steal, was fouled and made one free throw for a final score of 40-32.
St. John-Endicott reached the fourth-place game with a win over the Yakama Tribal Eagles on Friday morning.
Van Lith led the team with 20 points and six rebounds while Gfeller had 13 points and nine rebounds. Lacy Rice scored eight points and Bafus added seven points and five rebounds.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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