On Saturday I went to Jobing.com Arena to watch the state finals game for the Division-I girls basketball State Championship game. This game featured #1 ranked St. Mary’s High School, and #3 state ranked Pinnacle High School. Each team faced some tough teams leading up to this day, but it all came down to this.
The game began with Chantel Osahor (Univ. of Washington signee), 6-foot-2 senior forward, for St. Mary’s and Pinnacle’s 6-foot-1 senior center, Maddie Rinehart, going for the tip. St. Mary’s would start the game off with the ball.
Two shots were taken by St. Mary’s, but both would hit the rim and bounce back. Pinnacle would not capitalize. St. Mary’s 5-foot-9 senior guard Dominique Williams (UCLA signee) would grab the ball and drive hard up the court to get her team the first points of the game - 0-2, Knights. St. Mary’s would pass the ball around patiently, waiting for the right time to approach the basket. Courtney Ekmark (UCONN commit), a 6-foot junior guard, would go in for a layup underneath to score two more points for her team.
Pinnacle would turn the ball over and the Knights would take advantage by rushing back down court. Dominique Williams would get the ball underneath and put up a left-handed layup to get her team to a 6-0 lead against Pinnacle.
Pinnacle would then move the ball well and 6-foot senior forward, Britta Nordstrom, would put up a soft shot underneath to get the Pioneers on the board.
St. Mary’s would do a good job of keeping the ball moving, until they would find a gap in the defense, but Ekmark would be called for traveling on her way to the basket twice in a row. After grabbing a rebound from a shot put up by Pinnacle, Danielle Williams (Univ. of Michigan signee), a 5-foot-9 senior guard for the Knights would get fouled on her way up for a layup by 5-foot-9 junior guard Danielle Bender.
Bender would redeem herself and intercept a pass intended for a Knights player and drive down the court to bring the score to 8-4, Knights.
St. Mary's Chloe Johnson (San Diego State signee), a 5-foot-7 senior guard, would respond back by making a layup for the Knights. Then Pinnacle’s Kenna McDavis, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, would answer back by hitting a big three-pointer to bring her team within one of the Knights.
After Pinnacle regained possession, Sydney Wiese (Oregon State signee), a 6-foot-1 senior guard, would pass the basketball to Jasmine Hotchkins, a 5-foot-3 senior guard, and the Pioneer’s would take a 9-8 lead against the Knights.
The Knights would take an inbounds pass from under their basket and Danielle Williams would get fouled by Pinnacle’s Nordstrom, as she would go up for the layup underneath. She would make both of her shots - putting the Knights back in the lead. The Knights would be in possession of the ball with :30 seconds left in the quarter and Ekmark would pass to teammate Osahor. Wiese would get called for a block on the layup, which would fall for two points. Osahor would convert the “and-one” shot for a 13-9 Knights' lead.
Pinnacle would do a good job of breaking the press so far in the game. Madie Rinehart, a 6-foot-1 senior, would get fouled going up for her layup, but would miss both free-throws. The first quarter would end with the Knights up, 13-9.
Wiese would kick off the second quarter for her team by hitting a three at the top of the key - bringing her team within one of the Knights.
Osahor would get called for a travel, but would redeem her previous mistake with a drive to the basket and a pass to Danielle Williams to make a layup underneath. Then, Williams takes the inbounds pass and lays in another two points for her team. St. Mary’s would not let up at all, as 5-foot-11 senior forward Brandee Walton (New Mexico State signee) would hit a three to bring the score to 20-12, Knights.
Nordstrom would try to get her team going for a comeback - putting up a soft layup to score two points for her team. With 4:05 left in the first half, Pinnacle would call a timeout, while the Knights led the Pioneers by 6.
Nordstrom passed to teammate Bender wide-open under the basket and she would put up a layup to score two points for Pinnacle. After another layup and a foul in favor of the Pioneers, Knights would get called for a traveling violation on Osahor - putting the ball back in the Pioneer’s hands.
The Knights' Dominique Williams would foul Nordstrom, making it the Knights 6th team foul of the half. With less than two minutes left in the half, Pinnacle's McDavis would hit a big three-pointer for her team from the top of the key for the lead - 22-20, Pioneers. Nordstrom would grab rebounds for her team, left and right, and end up putting up a layup to get her team two more points.
The Knights would turn the ball over and Nordstrom would go to the line, making both of her free-throws. The first half would end with a 26-20 score, in the Pioneers' favor.
Third quarter began with Pinnacle turning the ball over on a bad pass. Knights would take advantage and Dominique Williams would hit a three-pointer to get things going for her team.
The Pioneers would try to keep their lead up though, and McDavis would put up a soft shot to get two more points for her team.
The Knights would move the ball well and Johnson would receive a pass from Dominique Williams, giving her a free layup to take and score the first points of the second half for the Knights. Ekmark would get fouled quickly after the Pioneers would turn the ball over. She would make 1-of-2 of her shots.
The Pioneer’s communication would be a little off during the third quarter and the Knights' Danielle Williams would make a layup off a pass from Osahor, bringing the game to a tie at 28.
Pinnacle would turn the ball over again on their inbounds pass, and the Knights would have the ball in their favor once more. Danielle Williams would grab a rebound and pass to Ekmark to go up for a layup, where she would get fouled by Wiese. Ekmark would make both of her free-throws - regaining the lead for the Knights.
Pinnacle would throw a shot up, but it would be no good. The Knights would grab the rebound and hustle back down court with Osahor driving hard to the basket to put up two more points for her team. St. Mary’s would go on a 12-2 run to start the second half. Danielle Williams would then sprint to grab an inbounds pass intended for a Pioneer. She would then pass to Ekmark, who would get fouled by Pinnacle's Nordstrom. Ekmark would make her layup as well as her “and-one” shot for a 35-28 lead for the Knights.
The Knights came out playing very aggressively in the second half, and would get the ball back when Pinnacle would turn the ball over again. Osahor would dribble hard and drive to the hoop - putting up two more points for her team.
Domimique Williams would then commit her fourth foul of the game with 2:30 left in the quarter and the score 37-28, Knights.
Nordstrom would take the inbounds pass and put it in for a layup - jumping over Osahor, to score two points for the Pioneers. A timeout would get called by St. Mary’s head coach Curtis Ekmark with 1:23 remaining in the quarter - 37-30, Knights.
With less than a minute left in the quarter, Osahor would push off McDavis while going up for a layup, and a charge would get called on her - putting the ball back in the Pioneer’s hands. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, they would be unable to get a shot to fall, and the Knights would outscore them 17 to 4 in the quarter - 37-30, Knights.
With 6 minutes left in the game, the first points of the fourth quarter were scored by Pinnacle’s McDavis, as she would hit a three-ball for her team from the left-side - 37-33, Knights. Nordstrom then would get a pass from Wiese to drive hard to the basket and put up two more points for her team, bringing the Pioneer’s within two of the Knights.
Pinnacle then would turn the ball over under the Knight’s basket and Ekmark would take advantage by driving for a layup. As Pinnacle would try to bring the ball in-bounds, Ekmark would steal the ball again and feed it to Dominique Williams to put up two more points for her team - 41-35, Knights.
Pinnacle’s McDavis would throw the ball to her teammate Wiese on her way to the basket, putting up a soft layup for the Pioneers. Then McDavis would foul Osahor making that her fourth of the game, and the 7th team foul for Pinnacle. A television timeout would be called with 3:46 left in the game - 41-37, Knights.
Osahor would make 1 of 2 free-throws after the timeout, and then Pinnacle would turn the ball over and Ekmarkwould get fouled by Hotchkins. She would also make 1 of 2 free-throws. Pinnacle would turn the ball over again, before they would be able to get back to their side of the court, and St. Mary’s would pass the ball in and out, until Brandee Walton would get open underneath the basket for two more points for the Knights.
Then Nordstrom for the Pioneer’s would make a bad pass and the Knights would be in possession of the ball once again with 2 minutes left to play. Pinnacle would try to get the ball back by fouling, putting Dominique Williams on the line. Williams would miss her one-and-one shot.
Pinnacle would fight hard late, but it was obvious that they were tired. The Knights were fighting just as hard to keep their lead. Danielle Williams would get put on the line and she would make 1-of-2 of her shots.
The Pioneers would try hard to score some points in the last minute and a half of this game, but they just could not get their shots to fall.
The Knights' would then go to the free-throw line several times in the finishing stages of the game, and cruise to a 49-37 Division-I championship victory - their third consecutive state title.
