A back-to-back win-or-go-home basketball affair at Ridgefield High School on Wednesday, Feb. 19, landed state tournament bids for both the Woodland and Ridgefield girls basketball teams.
The Woodland Beavers ended their 11-year state playoff drought while the Ridgefield Spudders carried out a remarkable feat after a 0-8 start led to the regionals round for a shot at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
The Beavers earned the 9th seed while the Spudders earned the 14th seed in the 2A girls state basketball tournament. Woodland will play at Mark Morris High School against Sultan on Saturday, March 2 at 2 p.m. and Ridgefield will play Eatonville at Mount Tahoma High School on Friday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m.
The Woodland Beavers enter the state tournament 17-5 after beating league foe Mark Morris High School 50-45 in a physical matchup on Feb. 19. Sophomore forward Kennedy Bockert led the Beavers with 20 points and 19 rebounds.
Woodland converted 12 of 22 attempts while the Mark Morris Monarchs capitalized on just 3 for 13.
Woodland head coach Glen Flanagan said he is proud that this team and, specifically, the seniors earned their way into the big dance.
“You got to be good to get lucky. You got to catch some breaks,” Flanagan said of the team’s path to the state tournament. “Even then, you don’t get to go all the time. So for this group to do it, the seniors have put in a ton of time. It’s nice to see that for (Addi) Standing and (Lainey) Hayden and (Haley) Strickland, who have been great for our program. They’ve run our youth camps. It’s always good for those guys to get the rewards.”
The Ridgefield Spudders earned an early Christmas gift with their first win of the year right before winter break. Now, they have found themselves in familiar territory in the state tournament after a season of hard work and determination to overcome early woes.
“It’s an immense amount of pride for the leadership that they’ve had from within and their ability to really get better each day,” Spudders head coach Lauren Hefflin said. “Every practice, we practiced hard and they accepted every challenge we gave them. They never withered, and I’m just immensely proud of them.”
The Spudders routed Black Hills High School 57-37 on Feb. 19 to make their way into the state playoffs for the second straight season. Sophomore Madison Ingham led the night with 19 points and junior Sava Chanda added 17.
