TACOMA — Tahoma made the most of every moment once the Bears finally got back to the Tacoma Dome. Maybe it didn’t end exactly where the Bears hoped it would on Saturday, but it came close.
Tahoma (24-4) got off to a quick start, survived a furious fourth-quarter rally from Kamiakin (23-6) and came away with a 61-57 victory in the third/fifth-place game at the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament.
It was the Bears’ first appearance at state since 1999, and their regional victory a week ago qualified as the program’s first state win since 1996. Tahoma added a pair of victories this weekend in Tacoma, losing in between to Camas in the semifinals on Friday.
“It’s always good when you end with a win,” Tahoma coach Peter Smith said. “That’s what’s good about the state tournament. Six teams get trophies and two teams win titles. Obviously it’s not the one we wanted, but we have a lot of happy kids right now.”
Tahoma looked as if it would make Saturday an easy one early. The Bears scored the game’s first 10 points, a lead they maintained throughout the first half and well into the second.
Heading into the fourth, the Braves had sliced the lead to just two 46-44 and Kamiakin took its first of just two leads all game when Emaunli Smith scored with 7:05 to play to make it 48-46.
The contest stayed within six points the rest of the way. Amelie Sitterud’s second three-pointer of the fourth quarter with 2:34 to go extended the Tahoma lead back to four, 57-53.
“The timeout before that, I think I used some choice words,” Sitterud said. “I told them, we are not losing this game.”
Hope Hassmann, who scored a game-high 21 points, essentially ended it with two free throws with 8.6 seconds left. Maddy Rendall led the Braves with 16 points.
Girls fourth/sixth: Woodinville rebounds
Failing to make it to the state championship game for the first time in four years — including 2021 when no tournament was held because of the COVID-19 pandemic — Woodinville (27-3) still added hardware to the school’s trophy case.
The Falcons built a big lead by the half against Emerald Ridge and went on to a 59-43 victory to place fourth.
The Jaguars (21-8) of Puyallup took the sixth-place trophy. It was the first state hardware ever for the Emerald Ridge program.
A week ago, during the regional round, the eighth-seeded Jaguars upset top-seed Woodinville.
The Falcons lost the championship game to Central Valley in 2020 to take second, won the title a year ago over Sumner and placed fourth Saturday.
Boys third/fifth: Federal Way holds off Mount Si
Vaughn Weems scored 25 points, grabbed five rebounds, blocked three shots and had three steals for Federal Way, which withstood a furious Mount Si comeback in the fourth quarter to capture third, 69-63.
The Wildcats (25-4) erased most of a 12-point deficit 50-38 entering the fourth quarter and outscored Federal Way 25-19 over the final eight minutes. Dace Pleasant added 24 points for the Eagles (25-3).
For Mount Si, Blake Forrest and Trevor Hennig each scored 16 points.
Boys fourth/sixth: Prep tops Camas
Gonzaga Prep erased a three-point halftime deficit with a 13-2 third-quarter run and held on to beat Camas 59-51 for the fourth-place trophy. The Papermakers finished sixth.
But the Bullpups (24-5) outscored Camas 20-9 during the third quarter to take the lead for good behind a team-high 17 points from Jamil Miller, who also added nine rebounds and three assists. Jamison Carlisle led all scorers for the Papermakers (20-9) with 19 points on eight of 12 shooting.
It was the first trophy at state for the Camas boys since 1962.