Central Valley girls hold off Snohomish for perfect 4A title

From the very first time they could lace up sneakers on their own — these girls from Central Valley High School were put under a close watch for championship basketball.

As middle-school students, they won a national AAU championship with their Spokane Stars club team.

And now, the unbeaten and No. 1 Bears can add one more thing to the list — Class 4A state champions.

Lexie Hull and Hailey Christopher scored 16 points apiece, and the next-up Greater Spokane League powerhouse held off 10th-ranked Snohomish, 57-48, in the 4A finals at the Tacoma Dome on Saturday night.

Central Valley (28-0) became the first 4A school to go undefeated since Auburn Riverside (29-0) won it all in 2010.

If this team has a standout, it is Hull, who was voted the state tournament most valuable player as a sophomore.

“Since we all started so young, we’ve matured faster — and matured together, so it has been better for all of us,” Hull said.

As so often it happens in tournaments such as the state championships, this all-underclassmen group ran into a senior-led team. Saturday night was no exception.

Snohomish’s Madeline Smith was the best player on the floor for three quarters. She tallied a game-high 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting. And she scored all 13 of her team’s third-quarter points.

And Smith’s driving basket past Christopher with 5:54 to go tied the game at 35-35.

“This is the state championship game, and she just killed it,” Panthers forward Madison Pollock said.

What Snohomish needed was a running mate for Smith. Pollock is usually that player, but she struggled to find any offense (12 points, 4-of-17 shooting).

Smith’s big game gave the Central Valley coaching staff cause for concern. Coach Freddie Rehkow admitted afterward he was starting to panic over how physical the game had become, particularly in the second half.

So he called his players over to make a pact: “You calm down, I’ll calm down — and we will go do what we do.”

“Every time I’ve challenged them, they’ve answered,” Rehkow said. “They are amazing.”

And it was a barrage of 3-pointers, starting with Lacie Hull’s corner shot with 5:15 remaining, that finally put away the Panthers.

After Hull’s shot, Camryn Skaife and Mady Simmelink, both ninth-graders, added 3-pointers to push the Bears’ lead to 47-37 with 2:14 left.

“We played good tonight,” Snohomish coach Ken Roberts said. “With Central Valley, as much as you know what you need to do, it is tough because they are so stinkin’ quick. They are good.”

First national champions — and now a 4A state championship in what could be the first of a string of Tacoma Dome titles.

“(Winning state) is a bigger feeling — bigger game, bigger stage — so it is a greater accomplishment for me, I think,” Lexie Hull said.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 8:16 PM with the headline "Central Valley girls hold off Snohomish for perfect 4A title."