Madi Crowley scores 25 points with 10 boards, but Ridgeline girls ousted in debut at Tacoma Dome | State girls basketball

The Ridgeline girls basketball team set its goal this year to reach the Tacoma Dome. The Falcons had qualified for the state tournament the past two seasons but could not get past the regional round in order to make the trip across the mountains. 

By virtue of a 19-5 season and emphatically winning the District 6 3A championship, a 65-40 decision over Greater Spokane League foe University, the Falcons were awarded the third seed to state – thus guaranteeing a game Tacoma.

Turns out the Falcons needed the protected seed, as an uncharacteristically poor shooting day in their regional matchup left them with a 54-36 loss to sixth-seeded Eastside Catholic on Saturday, putting them in a loser-out Round-of-12 game on Wednesday at the Dome. 

Their opponent? Last year’s State 3A runners-up Lakeside of Seattle, which fell to Central Valley in the title game 39-34.

The Lions, behind 10 3-pointers, proved too much for the young Falcons. 

Junior Kaliya Woodard, who entered averaging a little over eight points per game, hit 6 of 8 from beyond the arc and finished with 23 points, and 11th-seeded Lakeside eliminated Ridgeline 55-41 in a State 3A Round-of-12 loser-out game at Tacoma Dome on Wednesday.

Junior Anvi Bhatia added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Lakeside, which advanced to a quarterfinal against fourth-seeded Roosevelt on Thursday at 3:45 p.m.

“(Woodard) is not on your scouting report to knock down 3s,” Ridgeline coach Freddie Rehkow said. “I mean, every game I watched, she’s usually an inside presence, not really hitting from the outside.”

Senior Madi Crowley scored 25 points with 10 rebounds, two steals and an assist for the Falcons, which committed 17 turnovers and shot just 29% overall and 22% (4 of 14) on 3-pointers. 

Crowley, a two-time first-team all-GSL selection who committed to Michigan State in its rowing program, hasn’t contemplated her basketball career coming to a close yet.

“I’ve been too busy thinking about this,” she said, waving her arm around the Tacoma Dome. “But no, I’m super proud of myself and my team for helping me get to achieve everything that I wanted to.”

Lakeside held Falcons junior point guard Grace Sheridan scoreless on just four shots. Sheridan, an all-GSL first-team selection, averaged nearly 18 points per game.

Ridgeline’s team is comprised of two seniors, a junior and seven freshmen.

“It was a great season. I mean, there’s not much else to say after that,” Crowley said. “We played great all year, and obviously it wasn’t the ending that we wanted, but a great group of girls, and yeah, they’ll do great next year.”

“I’m just super proud of the girls to keep fighting,” Rehkow said. “They just fought to the end. And so super proud of what they’ve done this year. I mean, you look at where we’re at and what we did. I mean, it’s pretty amazing.” 

Lakeside came out with a halfcourt trap in the first quarter and forced Ridgeline into several turnovers early. Crowley made Ridgeline’s first bucket, a 3-pointer, at 4:01 of the first to make it 6-3.

“Once we realized (the defense), we kept trying to at least get it broken right in the middle, and then it just took us forever,” Rehkow said. “I mean, starting off the game with six turnovers does not bode well. Grace did a good job just being patient and finding (the defenders), but we just could never get back into a flow of our offense.”

Freshman Noelia Axton drove for a bucket and fellow freshman Makinley Simmelink hit a 3 from the wing. Simmelink hit another 3 late in the period and the teams were tied at 11 after one.

Lakeside opened the second with a 9-3 run, with Lili Brown and Woodard hitting 3s. Axton stopped the run with a 3, but Bhatia got to the line for four free throws down the stretch and Lakeside led 27-19 at intermission. 

Ridgeline committed 13 turnovers in the first half.

Woodard hit three of Lakeside’s five 3-pointers in the third and the Lions led 46-28 entering the fourth. 

Crowley scored twice early in the final period and the Falcons cut the deficit to 13. But Woodard drained another 3 from the corner and Ridgeline never found a late run to make it a game. 

“I’m super proud of both of those seniors,” Rehkow said. “You know, Kate (Taylor) did a great job just really keeping the youngsters kind of into the system and helping them understand what was going on. And Madi out on the floor – I mean, you couldn’t ask for a better senior season for her and just what she meant to this team, and it showed tonight too. She just gave every ounce of effort she had.”