Meadowdale not unhappy with 4th

TACOMA — They started at the top and finished just a tad short.

Jacci Baker and Tara Jacob were wide-eyed freshmen when Meadowdale won the Class 3A state girls basketball championship in 2000. They had hoped to repeat the feat as wily seniors. But after a second-round loss to Black Hills Thursday, the best they could hope for was fourth.

And in the end, it was enough.

"It's just as good as first place," Baker said after the Mavericks beat Bellevue 45-35 to earn the fourth-place hardware and cap a 26-1 season.

It was a step up from last season for the Mavericks, who rallied to finish fifth after dropping their tournament opener. They were also fourth in 2001.

Bellevue (24-5) wound up seventh after taking fourth last year. Still, it's been an impressive four-year run for the Wolverines seniors, who placed all four years as well.

The game was close until Bellevue went cold midway through the fourth quarter. Emily Shubin's basket cut what had been an 11-point lead to just two, 36-34, with 5:36 to play. But the Wolverines went scoreless until Ashleigh Graham made one of two free throws with 1.1 seconds on the clock. By then Meadowdale had rattled off nine unanswered points, including four free throws.

Junior Quinn Brewe paced the Mavericks with 17 points and 13 rebounds, her third straight double-double. Claudia Bishop led Bellevue with 14 points.

Issaquah off target, finishes sixth

It was an ill-timed off day for Issaquah.

The Indians let a three-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter and shot just 29.8 percent for the game as fourth-ranked Black Hills (23-5) claimed third place with a 47-43 victory.

"We didn't shoot very well," Issaquah Coach Kathy Gibson said. "The calls didn't go our way and neither did the shots. The kids played hard, but it wasn't meant to be our night."

Ninth-ranked Issaquah (18-10), which finished sixth, sank just 3 of 21 three-point attempts. Kathryn Field led Issaquah with 12 points.

Gibson had no explanation for her team's off-target shooting.

"I'm not going to give in to the thought that it's hard to shoot here," she said, referring to the spacious Tacoma Dome. "I've seen kids bury them (their shots). It just didn't happen for us. We were even missing little 12-footers. We got good looks. I'm not complaining about the shots the kids took. It's just got to go in that orange rim with the white net."

Brie Adderly, on 7-for-8 shooting, led Black Hills with 20 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

The sixth-place state finish is the best for an Issaquah girls team.

Yakima team claims fifth

Jessica Robinson scored 21 points and Jenny Springer had 10 points and 10 rebounds as West Valley of Yakima beat Kelso 52-46 for fifth place.

Robinson made 9 of 12 shots from the field. The Rams (23-5) placed in the tournament for the ninth time. Sara Burgoyne led second-ranked Kelso (25-2) with 18 points and 12 rebounds.