Archbishop Murphy girls come close, but late run ends state-title dreams

YAKIMA — What a tease.

There it was, their first state championship, well within their grasp.

And then it slipped away, like a broken promise, and the Archbishop Murphy Wildcats were left to wonder why.

Second-seeded W.F. West of Chehalis crawled out of a 15-point, first-half hole and ran off with the Class 2A state girls basketball title Saturday with a 64-52 victory at the Yakima SunDome.

Cassie Snyder, in her fifth year as coach, wasn’t quite sure how she was going to console her players, despite the pride she felt in all they’d accomplished this season, matching the school’s best finish. Archbishop Murphy also placed second in 2009.

“Being up so much and having it kind of slip away, it’s going to be worse, instead of just losing from the beginning,” she said. “But they’ve done a great job. I’m so proud of them. They’re just a great group, not only as basketball players but great people.”

Everything that went so right in the first half for the No. 5 Wildcats (24-3) went so wrong in the second – especially in the final 4:14 of the game, when the Bearcats (25-2) finished on a 16-4 tear to capture their second championship (2014).

“We got selfish,” Snyder said. “We quit sharing the ball.”

With the game tied at 48, W.F. West hit the offensive glass, forced turnovers and went on a 10-0 spree keyed by six points by 6-3 junior Erika Brumfield, who finished with 16 points and was named all-tournament.

“We couldn’t stop the bleeding,” said senior Maddie Hill, who had 11 points.

Junior Emily Rodabaugh scored six of the Wildcats’ nine fourth-quarter points to finish with a game-high 19 and earn tournament MVP honors. Sophomore Julia Lucas, who averaged 14.5 points in their first two tournament games, was also a first-team all-tournament choice. She had eight points and nine rebounds.

Both will be back next season hoping to finish what the team started this year.

“This is a big motivator for next year,” said Rodabaugh. “This stings now, and it’s going to sting for awhile, but in the end it’s going to be something to look back on and use for fuel.”

Julia Johnson scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half for W.F. West and Kiara Steen, who landed on the all-tournament second team, added 12 of her 14. After shooting just 21.9 percent from the field in the first half, the Bearcats hit 60 percent in the second.

It was 11-8 late in the opening quarter when the Wildcats started a 14-2 spurt that carried over into the second period, giving them a 25-10 advantage. It was 34-24 at the half and 36-24 early in the third.

“They wanted us to take quick shots and we did it,” Snyder said. “We did exactly what they wanted us to. … But I love this group. They’ve worked so hard and they’ve come such a long way. They need to be proud of themselves for that.”

Hill agreed.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed that we lost, but I think that overall we really came together as a team,” she said. “I’m very proud of the team, how we’ve grown this season, and I’m happy to have played with these amazing people and I’m going to miss them a lot.”

Note

• Two Seattle teams came home with trophies from the Class 1A boys tournament. The Northwest School won its first trophy, taking home fifth after losing to Zillah 76-73. King’s is bringing home a trophy for the sixth consecutive year. It lost to Royal 57-46 in the 4th/6th-place game.