Tahoma girls topple Auburn on last second shot

When it comes to exciting basketball matchups, there aren’t much better matchups than Auburn and Tahoma.

Both schools have had exceptional recent success in their girls basketball programs. Tahoma High School is coming off back-to-back state tournaments and Auburn High School was the fourth seed in the tournament last season.

The girls kicked off the doubleheader on Jan. 6, and coming into the matchup, Auburn had dropped 11 straight games to the Bears dating back to 2011. That number is now 12 after Auburn dropped a heart-breaking game, 52-51, on a last second shot from Tahoma’s Adalynn Busch. It’s now two straight losses for the Trojans by less than three points.

“This game I feel like Tahoma beat us. North Thurston, we beat ourselves,” Head Coach Jessica Hansen said. “We’re right there. We know that as long as we keep getting better every week, we will be in the mix.”

A quick start put the Trojans in front, but after taking a 8-2 lead, they hit a snag. Tahoma went on a 13-0 run to close the first quarter and defensively was making life very difficult for Auburn.

“We got out to a lead and then started to play frenetic. That is the second game in a row where we have gotten out to a lead and forgot we need to calm down,” Hansen said.

In the second quarter, Auburn ran into even more trouble as both Avery Hansen and Ariyana Deloney went into foul trouble and were forced to sit down. The Trojans also scored eight points in the second quarter and went into halftime down 27-16.

An 11-point deficit is not ideal for any team, especially a team as sound as Tahoma. But for Hansen, being down 11 was not the worst place to be.

Out of the break, Auburn found a bit of rhythm, but stepped up defensively, slowing Tahoma down. On offense, the Trojans looked more like the Trojans. They doubled their first half score with 16 points in the quarter and even cut the Tahoma lead to three points.

But a common theme in the third and fourth quarter was every time Auburn seemed to figure out Tahoma, the Bears punched back.

“It felt like every time we made a big play, they responded. But that is what good teams do,” Hansen said.

For the second straight game, the Trojan girls trailed heading into the fourth quarter. Against North Thurston, Auburn was down 10. Against Tahoma, Auburn was down 39-32, but the lead eventually became 10 in the fourth quarter.

Avery Hansen rose to the occasion in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 points, and was the source of the energy on the comeback. Kaleesa Howard contributed with a three-pointer. But the play of the game that wasn’t to be came with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Deloney thought she made an “and-one” layup to give Auburn a three-point, possibly four-point lead to ice the game with Auburn in front 51-50.

But an offensive foul was called, which gave Tahoma the ball back and the Bears found Adalynn Bush underneath the basket for the game winning shot at 52-51.

“We were trying to get her to focus on the next play… You’re disappointed in yourself. It’s the second game in a row we have lost at home by a point or two,” Hansen said.

Auburn has played in eight games decided by three points or less over the past two seasons. They have been on the wrong side of six out of those eight games. There is frustration growing with the group in these close games and the fact that they aren’t on the winning side of things for two games in a row.

“They don’t like to lose. I don’t like to lose. As long as it is about the journey and they are putting in the work, that’s all I can ask of them. Hopefully we can figure out how to finish down the stretch,” Hansen said.

But the Auburn girls team is incredibly young to be competing with a team like Tahoma. The Trojans don’t have a single senior on their roster, but they have high expectations.

“We gotta work on the confidence in pressure situations and finishing down the stretch,” Hansen said.

The girls host Auburn Riverside on Jan. 9 for their next fixture.