In a season where head coach Lauren Hefflin has been waiting for her Spuds to catch a break, they finally did, just before winter break.
The Ridgefield Spudders girls basketball team went into winter break receiving their first win of the season over the Hockinson Hawks, 65-28, on Friday, Dec. 20. The win improved Ridgefield’s record to 1-8, quite the contrast compared with last year’s state tournament-reaching success. In the 2023-24 season, the Spudders only lost four games and went 7-2 in the district.
“We needed that,” Hefflin said of the recent win. “Our girls have been working so darn hard, and with all the road bumps as far as injuries and illness and you know, girls not coming out that we thought were coming out, it’s just been one of those seasons where it’s like, ‘catch a break, man, catch a break,’ but I’m just glad they came out and they did what the game plan was. They stuck to it. They did what they’ve been doing, and it just worked.”
Ridgefield’s Madison Ingham led the way with 30 points while Dannika Grant led the Hawks with 11 points. The Spudders poured in from 3-point range and in the paint for a first half lead of 46-16 and again outscored the Hawks in the third and fourth quarters.
This season, however, has had its unexpected challenges. From a couple of girls transferring schools to some athletes who played on the summer varsity squad not coming out for the regular winter season, the road has been rough. Another issue for the girls basketball team came from the history created by the girls soccer team.
“It’s just kind of been a struggle,” Hefflin said. “And so for us, the positive and negative of having a state championship soccer team means that we don’t see those athletes, which we have four of them, for the first week and a half. So, we’ve had more games than we’ve had practices together, and for me as a coach that values fundamentals and repetition, it’s been just a practice of patience of kind of letting them get to their spot when they get there and meeting them where they’re at and not pushing them too hard because I don’t want to get burned out but also expecting them to play like dogs. So they answered the call every day and they’ve gotten better every day.”
The Spudders have a long climb to reach a post-season berth, but at 1-3 in league, Hefflin said if the momentum of the Dec. 20 win continues, she sees the Spuds climbing the standings.
“They’re all kind of beating each other up, which is good for us to kind of let them beat each other up, and then we’re just going to have to really lock in some wins here in early 2025 so that we can fight for that spot at the end,” Hefflin said of the 2A Greater St. Helens League.
