TACOMA — Arlington knew everything had to go perfect in order to upset nationally-ranked Bellevue in the Class 3A state championship girls basketball game.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, a slow start offensively doomed Arlington.
Arlington struggled from the field early and couldn’t rebound against a dominant Wolverines team as the Eagles fell to Bellevue 69-40 in the 3A title game late Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome.
“You have to score against a team that good and we need to make shots to set up our (defensive) pressure,” Arlington head coach Joe Marsh said. “We did — we bothered them for awhile — we just couldn’t get the ball in the basket. They’re so good and it’s really difficult when you can’t score.”
Arlington, back in the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome for the fourth consecutive season, battled through early struggles in the contest. The Eagles shot just 31 percent (8 of 26) from the field in the first half. Usually a strong team from beyond the 3-point arc, Arlington missed its first eight 3-point attempts and finished 2 of 12 (17 percent) from the perimeter in the first half and 2 for 24 in the game.
In the second half Bellevue’s offense started to catch fire as the Wolverines pulled away to win their first state championship since 1975.
“Any gym, any night, we’re going to go out and battle. And they battled tonight,” Marsh said. “That Bellevue team is phenomenal, super-talented. Their length really bothered us tonight, but there’s no quit in this group. They battled the whole time, and I’m proud of them for that.”
Senior Shelby Cansler, who was named tournament Most Valuable Player, led the Wolverines with 21 points and eight rebounds. Quinessa Caylao-Do, who transferred to Bellevue from Todd Beamer prior to the season, scored 20 points and Ann-Marie Jacobs added 12 for Bellevue, which finished the year 29-0 and is ranked No. 13 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings.
“Our girls worked their guts out against a fantastic team,” Marsh said. “That team is so talented. We never quit and that’s all I can ever ask the kids: to work as hard as you possibly can. Scrapped tonight, things kind of went off the rails. … They are well deserving state champions.”
Fittingly in the Eagles’ last game of the season, a pair of seniors led Arlington (25-2). Gracie Castaneda scored 12 points, grabbed nine rebounds and three steals and Serafina Balderas, who was named to the 3A State All-Tournament first team, added 11 for Arlington in both players’ final high school game. Along with seniors Jayla Russ and Emma Janousek, the group started and ended their careers with second-place finishes at state.
The expanded senior class — including Sarah Shortt, Sevi Bielser, Selena Gutierrez and Olivia Larson — has been instrumental to Arlington’s success the past four seasons, which includes two second-place finishes and a fourth-place trophy.
“They have been the heart and soul of this program for four years,” Marsh said. “I knew their freshman year that they were a special group. … I knew they had a chance to be something special. They’ve set the tone for this program. They’ve helped me build a great culture in this program and you can see it every night, whether we win or lose, these kids are diving on the floor, they’re scrapping, their battling. They hold their heads up high, they’re doing it the right way and I could not ask any more of kids. They give me every ounce of effort every night.
“It’s a magical season. These girls, for four years, they’ve got here — which is hard to do — they get to bookend their careers with two state second-place trophies. I’m incredibly proud.”
Arlington’s intense defensive pressure got to Bellevue early. Wolverines head coach Leah Krautter said she knew going into the game the Eagles were going to bring the pressure.
“They are (a feisty team),” Krautter said. “We saw them on film, we knew that they were going to come at us and come at us. … They worked really hard, they played hard. I’m glad we were able to sneak away with it.”
It wasn’t the result Arlington hoped for, but the Eagles’ fans waited late into Saturday night/Sunday morning to cheer for their team as they came out of the locker room. After several hugs with friends and family, Russ said it was an incredible experience starting — and ending — her career at the Tacoma Dome.
“I thought we were going to come out stronger but I’m just happy that we kept with it and kept trying,” Russ said. “It’s exciting to be here. We’ve worked our buts off to get here and I’m just happy that we got to finish playing in the state championship game. It meant a lot that each and every one of us was playing for each other.”
At the Tacoma Dome
Bellevue 14 21 12 22 – 69
Arlington 8 16 4 12 – 40
Bellevue–Tatiana Streun 0, Quinessa Caylao-Do 20, Mackenzie Keeter 1, Anna Wilson 5, Shelby Cansler 21, Annika Prins 8, Carlie Gilbert 0, Kathryn Roberts 0, Ann-Marie Jacobs 12, Montana Jones 0, Katherine Parrish 2. Arlington–Gracie Castaneda 12, Serafina Balderas 11, Sevi Bielser 5, Emma Janousek 2, Jayla Russ 2, Sarah Shortt 4, Selena Gutierrez 0, Olivia Larson 2, Peyton Brown 0, Abby Anderson 0, Tahlia Miears 2, Kelsey Mellick 0. Records–Bellevue 29-0 overall. Arlington 25-2.
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