A Soaring Display

River Ridge reverses Prosser charge to secure girls championship ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — With 6:20 left in the third quarter Saturday night, the Prosser Mustangs were in full gallop.

They had scored the first six points of the second half to complete a 13-point comeback and tie the game at 28. They seemingly had top-ranked River Ridge on its heels, their large and loud contingent of fans on its feet and the ever-precious commodity called momentum on their side.

But then the Hawks changed everything.

Prosser's Kelli Wilson, left, and Taylor Flores, right, clap for River Ridge after they lost to the team in in the championship game of the 2A state basketball tournament, held at the Yakima SunDome on Saturday, March 13, 2010. (Sara Gettys/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Scoring 13 unanswered points on six shots without a miss, River Ridge rode its abrupt reversal to a 57-46 victory and the Class 2A state girls championship in the SunDome.

The win ended a spirited run by the underdog Mustangs, who came in with a No. 7 state ranking and, by most accounts, second billing to the Hawks, West Valley and Archbishop Murphy.

But still they left with the No. 2 trophy in the school’s first title-game appearance since 1997.

“It was phenomenal,” an emotional coach Mark Little said after a lengthy locker-room meeting with his players. “I can’t even begin to describe … what these girls have done this year is remarkable. They got better every single game.”

River Ridge, meanwhile, finished 26-1 and celebrated its third title in four seasons, and second-year coach Tom Kelly said the decisive burst was not an aberration.

“These girls can do that,” he said. “They can just turn it on. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Jennifer Cole, a 6-foot junior who scored a team-high 16 points and was voted the tournament’s MVP, got the first two baskets of the River Ridge run. She would add another bucket to the spree, which was capped by Monteaka Norwood’s 3-0 pointer.

But the Hawks’ heroics would not have been needed had it not been for a nails-tough Prosser squad that finished 22-4, and was keyed by a 20-point, nine-rebound, three-steal night from 5-8 junior Tayshia Hunt.

After Rachel Anderson, who with Kelli Wilson were the only two seniors on the Mustangs’ roster, scored inside to start the third quarter, Tamara Jones converted a three-point play and Hunt maneuvered inside for yet another hoop.

Tie game.

But River Ridge, which had struggled initially with Prosser’s switch from a man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone, responded swiftly and decisively.

Up 43-32 at quarter’s end, the Hawks increased the margin to 47-32 early in the fourth.

The Mustangs battled back, making it a two-possession game at 50-44 when Anderson rebounded Hunt’s free throw miss and scored at 1:55.

A slashing layup by Jasmine McDonald, who had 11 points along with Samira McDonald, and two free throws by Kelsey Russell, younger sister of Central Washington standout Sophie Russell, sealed it.

Jones a first-team, all-tournament selection, totaled 13 points and seven rebounds despite the Hawks’ suffocating interior defense. Hunt was named to the second team.

“This (game) doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story,” Little said. “These girls have grown so much as people, and the way they treat each other is so meaningful to the bigger picture.”