SPOKANE — Clallam Bay sophomore Hannah Olson carefully pulled down the Bruins’ state championship placard from a hallway leading to the locker rooms at Spokane Arena.
The sign will surely go into the school’s trophy case, a memento of Clallam Bay’s first state trip in 11 seasons.
Clallam Bay will head home from the Class 1B girls state basketball championship after falling to Cedar Park Christian of Mountlake Terrace 50-39 in a loser-out contest Wednesday.
“It was a great experience,” Bruins senior Mariah LaChester said. “It was my first time coming here to state as a senior.”
Wednesday’s game was a rematch of a Tri District game last month in which the Bruins won 49-46 in overtime.
Clallam Bay had plenty of shots Wednesday against the shorthanded Lions — Cedar Park only has six players on its roster — but too many fell short for the Bruins to stay alive and compete for a top-six finish and a state trophy.
At the outset, Clallam Bay looked prepared and ready for the big state stage, going up 7-2 after a LaChester 3-pointer and two buckets from Miriam Wonderly.
But Cedar Park’s Jamie Copeland and Jennifer Perekopskaya had other ideas, scoring nine and four points, respectively, in the opening frame as the Lions closed the quarter on a 13-1 run.
The Bruins would come no closer than two points for the remainder of the contest.
The Cedar Park lead grew to 21-12 before Bruins’ senior Molly McCoy scored five straight points to put Clallam Bay within two baskets late in the first half. The Lions answered with four points to close the half and led 27-21 at the break.
Jennica Maines and McCoy keyed the Bruins best shot at reclaiming the lead out of the break, a short-lived 6-2 run that pulled Clallam Bay within two, at 29-27 with just over five minutes to play in the third period.
But the Bruins went polar-bear cold from the field to close the quarter, and Cedar Park kept getting buckets inside from Copeland who scored a game-high 21 points, and outside jumpers by Perekopskaya who finished with 17 points.
“We struggled against the new offense they ran against us today,” LaChester said. “They went down low and ran the baseline.”
The Lions closed the period on a 13-2 run for a 42-29 lead entering the final quarter, and Clallam Bay never seriously challenged again.
“Our shots weren’t falling,” LaChester said. “We had some looks, but couldn’t make them.”
Miriam Wonderly led the Bruins (16-6) with 10 points. McCoy added eight, Hannah Olson scored seven and Maines had six.
LaChester was honored with a WIAA Sportsmanship Medallion for her play.
It was the final contest for seniors LaChester, McCoy, Maines and Chelsea Ritter.
“They are like a family to me,” LaChester said.
“We’ve grown up together since we were little.
“I’m just excited we made it to state and got to enjoy this together.”
Cedar Park Christian 50, Clallam Bay 39
CPC 15 12 15 8 — 50
Clallam Bay 8 13 8 10 — 39
CPC (50) — Copeland 21, Perekopskaya 17, Yosef 10, Eilertsen 2.
Clallam Bay (39) — Wonderly 10, McCoy 8, Olson 7, Maines 6, Abe 4, LaChester 3, Ritter 1.
