AUBURN — The drought already had ended.
As a top-eight seed (No. 3) to the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament, Tahoma already was assured of at least a one-game trip to the Tacoma Dome when festivities begin Wednesday. What remained to be won for the Bears, during a Saturday regional matchup with No. 6 Davis of Yakima, was a Round-of-12 bye.
Tahoma added that extra-day perk, beating the Pirates 86-59 at Auburn High as Hope Hassmann took things into her own hands and dominated play from the opening tip until she came off the floor for good with 2:25 remaining and her team firmly in control.
“It’s kind of like she’s been waiting four or five years to be playing on this stage, right?” Tahoma coach Peter Smith said. “Obviously, they all had it.”
Tahoma moves directly into the state quarterfinals before it plays its first state game in Tacoma since the 1999 season. The Bears will play the winner of Wednesday’s Sumner vs. Gonzaga Prep game at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday for a semifinal berth.
The Pirates will play the first girls Class 4A game on Wednesday, at 3:45 p.m. against Bellarmine. The Lions dominated a loser-out regional game on Saturday afternoon, ending Mount Si’s season, 73-43.
Hassmann displayed a variety of scoring skills. She got to the rim with regularity, employing a hesitation dribble at the three-point arc to blow by stationary defenders.
She whirled in the lane, stopping to create space and burying short jumpers. Early, only the long-range shooting eluded the senior guard as a pair of three-point attempts started down before rattling back out.
The three-pointer never did go down for Hassmann. It didn’t matter.
The senior finished with 29 points, including 23 during a first half in which Tahoma steadily built its lead. Hassmann’s final points of the half came via another of those spin moves and a drive to the hoop for a layup as the final buzzer of the second quarter sounded. She added seven steals and six rebounds.
“I kinda went once, and I was like, ‘Oh, they can’t guard me,’” Hassmann said. “So I kept it going.”
Hassmann added four first-half steals and four rebounds to those 23 points over the first 16 minutes as the Bears forged a 47-29 lead at the half. She scored the first Tahoma basket of the second half, then turned the offensive chances over to her teammates.
Led by Lily and Angie Cavanaugh, the rest of the Bears smoothly took up the scoring mantle. Lily Cavanaugh made two three-pointers and scored 12 of her 14 points in a third quarter during which Tahoma scored 24 points — the Bears second-best quarter of the game.
Tahoma tallied 30 points during the second quarter.
Sister Angie dispersed her 19 points fairly evenly over all four quarters before Smith cleared his bench for the final three minutes or so.
For sixth-seeded Davis, Esmeralda Galindo tried to keep the Pirates within some sort of shouting distance. Galindo scored 25 points, much of it from the free-throw line.
Galindo worked inside against the Bears bigs and consistently drew fouls. She made 10 of 13 from the free-throw line as Davis scored the third most points against Tahoma all season.
“Yeah, we need to work a little on the defense,” Smith said. “We gave up 59 tonight. That’s not usual for us.”
It just didn’t hurt when his team scored 86 to win its first state tournament game since 1996.