Rogers girls suffer season-ending loss to top-ranked Bears

The Rogers High girls basketball team’s season came to an end Saturday night at the hands of Central Valley, 59-30, after the state’s top-ranked team jumped out into a significant lead and never looked back.

Even though the Rams lost on Saturday, the future is bright as Rogers, along with Curtis, were the only teams from the South Puget Sound League South Division to reach 4A regional round. Bellarmine Prep, which enters the SPSL next season, also reached the regional round.

“It’s state. That’s what our T-shirts will say, that we reached the state playoffs,” Rogers coach Amy Looker said. “I told them to just enjoy it this year, because they deserve it.”

Rogers finished the season at 16-12, and it’s the third team in six seasons Looker has taken to the regional round.

Rogers and Curtis have a strong chance to return to the state regional round next season, especially because the Rams will lose only one senior: Kendra Spechts.

“It definitely was a fun weekend with the team, but it wasn’t the way how we wanted to go out,” Specht said. “They came on strong, and we lacked a little bit in blocking them out. We gave up too many second chance opportunities.”

Specht wasn’t the team’s top scorer, or Rogers’ fastest or most skilled player. She wasn’t even the team’s best rebounder. What she was was the right player at the right time.

She was this team’s leader.

“She does whatever is asked of her without question,” Looker said. “No person is as flexible as Kendra is. She’s been there for us when we needed it, for whatever tough task is called upon her. She just does her job.”

Throughout the season, Specht was the rock of the Rams team, as the captain seemed to be at the right place at the right time, helping Rogers pull out victories.

When Rogers needed to shut down the league’s most valuable player, Tianna Brown, in a loser-out game against Bethel, it was Specht who was called on for the job.

“My coaches thanked me for the hard work I put in on and off the court,” Specht said. “All my teammates after the game (against Central Valley), just their kind words — even coming into that locker room knowing it’s my last game, we just came together and everyone was super supportive.”

Before the season began back in late November, a day after Specht was announced as one of the Rams’ captains, she laid out a goal for her teammates.

The 2014-2015 version of the Rams surpassed their expectations and made it to districts. Why not make it further this year?

“Of course I wanted to go to the (Tacoma) Dome, like everybody else,” Specht said. “But I’m super proud of team, and for it to end here, it’s still really satisfying to be one of the top 16 teams in the state. Like coach Looker said in the locker room: ‘We might of lost this game, but we won the season.’”

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Rogers girls suffer season-ending loss to top-ranked Bears."