For three quarters this past Saturday, the Auburn Riverside girls basketball team looked like a squad ready to settle for seventh place at the Washington state 4A championship tourney at the Tacoma Dome.
Playing their fourth game in four days, the Ravens found themselves struggling against the Issaquah Eagles, trailing by as many as 15 points in a game to decide the fourth and seventh place 4A team in the state.
For one quarter, however, Auburn Riverside again found the magic that had won it two consecutive 3A titles, putting together a 24-5 run that erased a 43-33 deficit and earned the team a 57-48 win to secure the fourth-place trophy.
“They find ways to scrap and compete,” Ravens coach Ed Rosin said. “They’re aggressive and they fight. They just find ways to get it done.”
Down 10 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Ravens rode their pressure defense and the hot hand of senior Nichole Jackson, who put the Ravens in the lead for the final time with a 3-point shot with 2:40 left in the contest.
“She’s our senior, she wants the ball and we’ve told her all season long that when it comes down to making the game-winning-or-losing decisions, the ball goes in her (Nichole’s) or Mercedes’ hands,” Rosin said. “I’ve trusted them all season.”
Junior Mercedes Wetmore finished with a game-high 23 points to go along with her five rebounds and two assists. Wetmore also was selected to the all-tourney team and led the tournament in scoring with 20 points per game.
Jackson had 16 points, nine of them from beyond the arc, to go with her four assists and three steals. Sophomore Kathleen Cooper added 10 points.
Erin Nicol led Issaquah with 15 points.
The Ravens, who came into the tourney hoping to secure their third straight Washington State title after winning the 3A title the previous two years, opened the tourney with a 48-30 win over Eastlake. A 48-44 loss to Moses Lake in the quarterfinals relegated the team to the consolation bracket, where it rolled over Garfield 70-51 to earn the right to play for fourth place.
“They are winners, they find ways to win,” Rosin said. “It wasn’t pretty, but they found a way to win.”
“My team showed heart and came back,” Jackson said. “We overcame a lot this season. And it showed in that last quarter that we could do anything if we set our mind to it.”
The Ravens will lose Jackson and fellow senior Amanda Thomson to graduation this June. Jackson will play basketball at Portland State University next season and Thomson will head to California State University, Northridge.
“It’s sad to leave this program,” Jackson said. “I’ve been here for three years, and they’ve treated me the best I could have been treated. I don’t think any other program would have treated me this good. So it’s sad to leave, but I’m ready to move on to college.”
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Auburn Riverside 57, Issaquah 48
Auburn Riverside 4 17 12 24 ―57
Issaquah 12 17 14 5 ―48
Auburn Riverside ― Mercedes Wetmore 23, Nichole Jackson 16, Kathleen Cooper 10, Amanda Thomson 4, Makenna Clark 2, Kara Jenkins 2, Brooklynn Hinkens 0.
Issaquah ― Erin Nicole 15, Alexa Smith 11, Maddey Pflaumer 10, Blaire Brady 5, Brooke Miller 3, Taryn Homes 2, Heather Morris 2, Dayna Talley 0, Nogozi Monu 0, Dominique Mendezona 0.
