Oakesdale girls wrap up difficult season

OAKESDALE — While some teams are preparing for state basketball tournaments, one team’s members are healing from injuries and the disappointment of a season-ending loss.

“This season was the most physical, and the most mentally and emotionally challenging the players on the Oakesdale High School’s girls basketball team has ever faced,” Coach Heidi Perry said. “Of all the teams I’ve been a part of, either as a player or a coach, this 2021-22 Oakesdale Nighthawks girls team was the grittiest team I’ve ever known.”

The team finished the season 10-10. Three of the losses were by 1 point.

The team ranged from four to seven girls the entire season. Only six came to the first practice.

“We were determined to keep our high school girls basketball program going for this year’s team and for all the Nighthawks who will come after them,” the coach said. “If we have six players, then we’ll play our season with six players. We also wanted our senior to get her last season as an Oakesdale Nighthawk.”

After losing the first game to Wellpinit, it looked like it might be a long, losing season for senior Kaylee Hinnenkamp, juniors, Marilla Hockett and Emily Dingman, sophomore Samantha Holling, freshman Lucy Hockett, and eighth-grader Bradyn Henley.

Henley’s quarters were limited, so she did not see action in early non-league games.

Henley and freshman recruit Jenna Rawls came on board in December, which lifted everyone’s spirit.

At the Reardan Christmas tournament, the Nighthawks played their first game with all seven players suited and available for all four quarters.

They avenged their season-opening loss, defeating Wellpinit, 48-39.

There was a sense of relief among the players, knowing there were two more to shoulder the load.

Having seven suited players was short-lived.

At the Jan. 22 game, Samantha Holling suffered a knee injury. Her teammates helped her off the floor and she was out for the rest of the season.

Team veterans Hinnenkamp and Marilla Hockett were carrying a heavy load and dominating on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court, while at the same time helping to build the confidence of the rest of the young team with their never-give-up mentality.

Dingman and Lucy Hockett were contributing their skill and baskets, while new recruits Henley and Rawls were seeing increased playing time and becoming valuable members of the squad. As opponents were putting in substitutes to give their players a rest, some of the Oakesdale crew were still playing the complete game.

Near the end of the season as games approached the final buzzer, Nighthawk gals were still running up and down the court with vigor.

Marilla Hockett missed a few weeks, leaving the team with five players to finish their last three games against league powers Garfield-Palouse, Pomeroy, and Colton.

Still, the five persevered, Perry said.

“Kaylee Hinnenkamp was an exceptional leader during this time with her shooting and rebounding, and the younger girls, Dingman, Lucy Hockett, Rawls and Henley really rose to the occasion,” Perry said.

She cited the win against Pomeroy with five playing, as “one of the greatest wins by a Nighthawk girls’ basketball team. Everyone played fearlessly and with confidence, executing the game plan to perfection.”

On Feb. 4, Emily Dingman went down with an ankle injury.

The players showed their “never-give-up” attitude by finishing the third and fourth quarters with only four players on the floor against a relentless Colton team.

The next game was canceled to allow healing time.

By finishing fourth in the league, the Nighthawks earned a trip to DeSales for a District 9 playoff game.

They stayed on the winning path with Hockett and Dingman back on the floor.

Back in full force, Hockett sank six 3-pointers.

Losing to Colton again, put the six into a loser-out bracket in the district playoffs in Dayton. After trailing most of the game, but determined to win and not giving up, Hinnenkamp and Henley hit some key baskets against Sunnyside Christian.

With 4.5 seconds left, Hinnenkamp sank a free throw to win the game.

Despite a winning effort by the Hockett sisters and Dingman and every other team member, and again battling from behind, the season came to an end when the “sensational six” fell to Pomeroy, this time by 1 point.

Scoring leaders, Hinnenkamp and Marilla Hockett were named to the All-League first team.

“Like older sisters, the two were perfect leaders for their young, inexperienced team mates,” Perry said.