TACOMA — Jackson exceeded expectations this season by advancing to the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament for the first time in school history.
But that accomplishment didn’t lessen the sting of being eliminated from the tourney by Western Conference South Division rival Meadowdale.
The Mavericks edged the Timberwolves 60-56 in a loser-out game March 10 at the Tacoma Dome. Meadowdale, which fell to Mount Tahoma the next day, took home an eighth-place trophy.
Jackson coach Jeannie Thompson is hoping the Timberwolves find some inspiration in their first appearance at state.
“We’re definitely going to use this whole experience and hopefully build toward placing next year or going for a state championship,” Thompson said.
The Wolfpack and the Mavericks split their regular season series and Friday’s game was predictably close.
The two teams were tied at 31 after two quarters of play before Meadowdale inched ahead in the third quarter.
The Mavericks took a 46-40 lead into the fourth quarter and extended the advantage to 50-40 on a pair of free throws by freshman Hanna Fjortoft at the 6:58 mark.
Jackson responded with a 14-4 run and tied the score at 54 on a basket by junior forward Michelle Addington with 2:20 remaining.
Meadowdale senior Caitlyn Rohrbach then aggressively drove to the hoop and scored. She also was fouled in the process and made the free throw to give the Mavericks a 57-54 lead.
Rohrbach had taken on some added responsibilities late in the game, switching to point guard when sophomore Eryn Jones injured her ankle during a collision at the 2:44 mark.
Jackson was fouled on its next two offensive possessions and made two of four free throws to cut the deficit to 57-56 with 22.6 seconds remaining.
Rohrbach again came up big with a rebound off a missed Wolfpack free throw and was fouled. She connected on one of two free throws to extend the Meadowdale lead to 58-56 with 12.9 seconds.
The Timberwolves again were fouled but couldn’t connect on the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 4.2 seconds to go.
Meadowdale junior guard Marelle Moehrle collected the rebound off the second miss and was fouled. She made both of her free throws to seal the Mavericks’ victory.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Thompson said. “They’re a great program and they always come out hard, especially in these situations.”
Meadowdale was making its 11th straight appearance at state. The Mavericks have finished eighth or higher in 10 of the school’s 12 postseason appearances.
“We started off slow tonight and had to play through it,” Thompson said. “It was a very physical game. I thought my kids battled through it very well and unfortunately we fell short at the end. We dug ourselves a hole in the first, second and third quarters and were able to make it close at the end.”
Sophomore guard Kristi Kingma and Addington each scored 18 points to lead the Wolfpack. Sophomore guard Ashly Bruns added 11 points.
Kingma, who averaged a tournament-high 23 points per game, was named to the all-tournament first team.
The difference against Meadowdale was that the Mavericks made key baskets late in the game. Jackson shot 52 percent from the field in the first half but then cooled off to 27 percent in the second half.
“They just finished more,” Bruns said. “They had a great game. We just didn’t finish.”
The Timberwolves (22-4 overall) were disappointed not to be playing on the fourth day of the tournament but were pleased with their overall performance.
“A lot of us played great out there,” Bruns said. “We gave it our all … We had a great season and we made it this far. We hope to make it back next year.”
Jackson drew a tough first round assignment in Prairie, one of the pre-tournament favorites. The Wolfpack stayed with the Falcons until the fourth quarter. Prairie then ignited, outscoring the Wolfpack 22-9 en route to a 63-50 triumph.
Kingma scored a game-high 21 points and Addington had 10.
Prairie advanced to the championship game where the Falcons lost to Lewis and Clark.
The Timberwolves then rebounded to defeat Puyallup 55-35 in a loser-out game March 9 as Kingma scored a career-high 30 points to set up Friday’s rematch with Meadowdale.
“It’s always disappointing to lose in the state tournament, especially when your season is over,” Thompson said. “But we had a great season. We far exceeded anybody’s expectations of us. This year nobody expected us to make it to state let alone win at state and have a chance to go to a trophy game.”
The Wolfpack won’t be losing any players to graduation with the exception of senior Kristin Fox, who has been sidelined since January due to a leg injury.
“We’re just going to come back and give it our all next year,” Bruns said.
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