Simply perfect: No. 1 Bellevue girls complete run to Class 3A title

In the end, the smallest, grittiest mighty mites of Class 3A girls basketball could not reach the lofty heights Bellevue was destined for.

A night after ending defending state champion Lynnwood’s reign, the No. 1 Wolverines finished the job Saturday night with a 69-40 victory over fourth-ranked Arlington.

The Wolverines’ big three — Shelby Cansler (tournament MVP with 21 points), Quinessa Caylao-Do (20 points) and Anna Wilson (five points, six assists, five rebounds) — certainly showed up to close out another championship night of state basketball in the Tacoma Dome.

The trio led Bellevue to its first state title in 41 years.

And just like that Bellevue squad (21-0) did in 1975, this group also completed the perfect season – 29-0.

“I am just so proud of the girls — they just play so hard every minute,” Bellevue coach Leah Krautter said. “This season actually has been a dream for me. All I do is show up … and they put everything into every day.”

By no means was handling Arlington (25-2), the team with small guards but big defensive pressure, an easy task. In fact, early on the Eagles treated Bellevue’s ball-handlers just like they did Lincoln’s and Kamiakin’s in earlier blowout state-tournament victories.

They forced 12 first-half turnovers, even against Wilson, a Stanford signee. But they could not feed their usual frenzy by making 3-pointers (2 of 12) on the other end.

“You have to score against a team that good, and we need to make shots to set up our pressure,” Arlington coach Joe Marsh said. “We bothered them for a while, we just couldn’t get the ball in the basket.”

Capped by Caylao-Do’s left-corner 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining, Bellevue closed the first half on a 6-0 run to grab a 35-24 lead.

Wilson’s 3-pointer 1:04 into the second half triggered a 10-2 scoring spurt to allow the Wolverines to finally pull away. It ended on Wilson’s feed to Caylao-Do off a turnover for an easy layin — and 45-28 advantage with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter.

As for Caylao-Do, she finally got to cradle the elusive state championship trophy she came so close to winning at Todd Beamer.

“If feels great — words cannot describe this,” Caylao-Do said. “It has been rough for me personally for the four years, but finally making it — I am just so happy.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 11:32 PM with the headline "Simply perfect: No. 1 Bellevue girls complete run to Class 3A title."