Kylin Munoz (15) of the Valley Cats blocks out Tianna Chaidez of the East Bay Xplosion during the 6th Grade Championship.
SEATTLE, Feb. 9 - If many of the top teams on the West Coast journeyed to the Furtado Center looking for a blast, they certainly were not disappointed.
After all, there was East Bay Xplosion all over the place.
The nationally prominent program out of Modesto, Calif., brought three teams to Seattle and two of them won championships in the inaugural Sonics-Storm HoopGurlz Challenge for 6th through 8th grade girls.
The only championship not claimed by the Xplosion, the 8th grade, was taken in convincing fashion by the Oregon Triple Threat, the HoopGurlz High Five No. 1 for Oregon and most dominant team in the Pacific Northwest.
To win the 8th grade title, Triple Threat had to withstand the other big story of the tournament - the grit of the Impact, which advanced to the title tilt without the services of its magical guard, Mikayla Harshman, who was knocked out of action with a knee injury suffered on the first night of competition.
Also taking advantage of the regional spotlight were the Snohomish Heat, which used the tournament as a coming out, and 6th grade wunderkind Madison Yakaboski, who dazzled at both the 7th and 8th grade levels. The Heat, ironically, used a tournament-opening overtime win despite Yakaboski's regulation-ending three-pointer, to catapult them into the 7th grade championship. Yakaboski, meanwhile, led Joker's Wild into the 7th grade semifinals and was Impact's leading scorer in the 8th grade championship.
There were so many great players, choosing the HoopGurlz all-tournament team was not an easy task:
- Valencia Doty, Impact (8th grade)
- Jeni Guertin, Heat (7th grade)
- Shawnte King, Xplosion (8th grade)
- Akana King, Xplosion (6th grade)
- Madison Yakaboski, Joker's Wild (7th grade)
The individual brilliance of those five was outshined only by the collective excellence of the 6th and 7th grade Xplosion and the clockwork-like Oregon Triple Threat. This past weekend belonged to them.
8th Grade: Oregon Triple Threat 44, Impact 34
Oregon's Paige Halberg (23) denies the Impact's Marquesha Weathersby; Halberg's teammates, Becky Goll and Kirah Aldinger, are in the background.
If it's true that the cream always rises, then it should be no surprise that Paige Halberg squelched what could have been the biggest girls basketball story of the year.
Halberg, the Oregon Triple Threat star, downed a huge three-pointer with 2:41 to play that essentially put the Impact upset machine out of business. Halberg led Triple Threat with a lucky 13 points.
Playing without Harshman, the Impact looked for a stunning upset despite falling behind 12-3 at the start of the game. Consecutive three-pointers by Katie Kirsch and Yakaboski late in the first half produced an improbable result - an 18-17 Impact lead. Kirsch and Yakaboski each connected on three triples, and Doty added another two.
The Impact already had parlayed a miracle to reach the championship game, knocking off a Puget Sound Emeralds team that combined with the Rotary Lady Style, 31-30 in the semis on a Doty free throw with 3.8 seconds to play.
Led by sixth grade sensation Yakaboski's 11 points, the Impact seemed poised for another stunning result.
However, Howard Avery's Oregon Triple Threat mowed through four different teams, including the Xplosion twice, to reach the final and had won 10 of its last 11 tournament championship games. Moreover, the Oregon club was coming off what technically was its first loss of the year, albeit to a team, Lake Oswego, that was using two usual Triple Threat regulars.
The recipe then was clear: A big bucket from their star and a defense that stiffened in crunch time.
Oregon Triple Threat (44): Paige Halberg 13, Amanda Huck 10, Jordan Brown 6, Kirah Aldinger 5, Steph Buhler 5, Becky Goll 4, Kelly Marchant 1, Lauren Joyce, Molly Beard.
Impact (34): Madison Yakaboski 11, Katie Kirsch 9, Valencia Doty 7, Haines 5, Donjanique Baker 1, Cassie Lard 1, Randy Dry, Danielle Jones, Demetria Riggins, Marquesha Weathersby.
Halftime: Triple Threat 22, Impact 17.
7th Grade: Xplosion 43, Heat 37
East Bay's Ashlee Burns (00) rises above the Heat's Megan Drawsky (18) and Morgan Thomas (2).
You might not be able to blame the Snohomish Heat for lacking an accurate scouting report on the East Bay Xplosion's Kim Veale. After all, the most shots she'd hit from behind the arc in a previous tournament game was two. That certainly was not any tipoff of the three-for-all she'd unleash in the championship game.
Behind four first-half three-pointers by Veale, the Xplosion stormed out to a lead that grew widest just at the first-half buzzer - 24-16. The final halftime points were registered, of course, on a three-point, the last a heave by Samantha Gipson. The Xplosion scored 18 of its 24 first-half points on six three-pointers.
The 7th grade Xplosion may have been the most impressive team in the tournament on any level, and seemed bent on proving such. However, the Heat, enjoying some prominence of their own, came charging back behind their great post, Guertin, and Kelsey Brennan, who had six of her 11 points in the second half.
Guertin had an impressive tournament, leading the Heat to two wins over HoopGurlz No. 2 Joker's Wild, including a decisive 32-18 victory in the semifinals. The Heat also had a big, 14-point victory over Ladies Beware.
East Bay proved undaunted. The explosive Xplosion rolled over HoopGurlz Oregon No. 1, the Sting, in pool play and held game but short-handed Emerald City to just two points in the second half of their semifinal matchup.
Veale's five three-pointers and 16 points was a difference. And defense, particularly the defensive glass, proved decisive in the championship.
East Bay Xplosion (43): Kim Veale 16, Samantha Gipson 12, Alex Cowling 7, Ashlee Burns 3, Danielle Keenan 2, Francesca Santos, Frances Santos.
Snohomish Heat (37): Jeni Guertin 13, Kelsey Brennan 11, Morgan Thomas 5, Dani Peterson 5, Ashley Knight 3, Lauren, Megan Drawsky.
Halftime: Xplosion 24, Heat 16.
6th Grade: Xplosion 38, Valley Cats 35
The Vally Cats' Ally Schmitt explodes by East Bay's Mikayla Lyes.
If there was a renaissance team in the tournament, it was the Valley Cats. After dominating their grade level for much of the year, the Cats had struggled in recent tournaments and came in looking to put themselves back on the map.
Mission accomplished.
Not only did the Valley Cats rampage through pool play and their first bracket game, they were comeback Cats against a solid Mt. Baker team and gave the Xplosion all they could handle in the championship game. They also got great play, at both ends of the floor, from the opportunistic Ally Schmitt.
From the other side of the coin, the Akanna King-led Xplosion had to overcome a rousing start by the Valley Cats to pull out the title. Almost before the Xplosion could blink, the well-drilled team from Snohomish raced out to a 12-3 lead and, behind Rachael Shober's nine first-half points, went into intermission with a 21-18 lead.
But with King pumping in eight of her game-high 15 points, and Nicole Anderson-Jew pitching in six, the Xplosion overwhelmed the Cats at the beginning of the second half. The Valley Cats reeled the Xplosion back in, however, and regained the lead, 35-34, on Schmitt's fast-break layup. After a defensive struggle, King provided the go-ahead and winning bucket with 43 seconds to play.
East Bay Xplosion (38): Akana King 15, Nicole Anderson-Jew 7, Mikayla Lyles 6, Vanessa Kelley 4, Emily Valenziano 4, Tianna Chaidez 1, Amy Lucas 1.
Valley Cats (35): Rachael Shober 12, Emily Drivstuen 6, Ally Schmitt 5, Alyssa Smith 5, Marissa Timmerman 4, Trisha Moriarty 3, Kylin Munoz, Emilie Ojalehto.
Halftime: Valley Cats 21, Xplosion 18.
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