Lions happy with state effort

Snohomish County Christian School had an abbreviated but still memorable stint at the Class B state girls basketball tournament last week at the Spokane Arena.

The Lions lost both of their games but came out of their first-ever state appearance with a strong determination to build upon this season’s successes.

“We just had a great time,” said SCCS coach Sasha Anderson. “The girls had so much fun. The coaches had fun. There was a lot of disappointment. We didn’t intend to go over there and lose two.”

The talk among the players was not on whether the Lions would be back at state next year but that they would return and win some games.

“The scores weren’t really reflective of the games,” Anderson said. “We felt really good about the way we played. I was really proud of them. There’s a history of westside teams getting annihilated. I didn’t feel like that was the case.”

SCCS lost 41-31 to Mossyrock in a first-round game March 3. The turning point was about a minute-long stretch in the second quarter in which the Vikings hit back-to-back 3-pointers.

The Lions only trailed 10-8 after the first quarter but found themselves down 36-22 at halftime. Mossyrock ended up finishing seventh in the tournament.

Sunnyside Christian then eliminated SCCS 51-33 in a loser-out contest the next day. The Knights, who placed fifth, took an 18-10 first quarter lead and never trailed in the game.

Though the loss was disappointing, Anderson noticed a different feeling among her players.

“The girls never had experienced ending (the season) at the tournament,” she said. “There’s something different about it. They just don’t feel burned out. They still are very excited and are looking forward to next year.”

The Lions only graduate a pair of seniors and will return leading scorer Tara Holgate. The junior center contributed 14 points against Mossyrock and 10 against Sunnyside Christian.

“We went over there and made a good showing,” Anderson said. “We proved we deserved to be over there.”