Wapato 67, White River 48: Hornets take sixth, Bird finishes career with 1,934 points

That’s a career for Kendall Bird.

And what a career it was for the White River High School senior. She finished her four-year stint with the Hornets with 1,934 points.

“She’s been an amazing kid and an amazing teammate,” White River coach Chris Gibson said. “You can’t say that about all great players. She doesn’t act like she’s good. That’s the best part.”

But Bird, a University of San Diego signee, sure shows how good she is.

In her final high school game against fourth-ranked Wapato, Bird capped her stellar career with a game-high 24 points and 15 rebounds.

“I owe everything — all of my points, all of my rebounds, all of my assists — to my teammates,” Bird said. “I wouldn’t do anything without them.”

Wapato (22-4) went on to win the Class 2A state tournament consolation game, 67-48, riding its relentless offensive pursuit to a fourth-place finish.

But, the third-ranked Hornets (25-4) still left the Yakima Valley SunDome with a sixth-place trophy.

“I’m really proud of my teammates,” Bird said. “We played really well today. We played well all season.

“This season was different than the past ones I’ve played in before. We really worked together as a team really well, and took every single day at a time, even practice.”

White River’s sixth-place finish is the eighth trophy in the program’s history.

The Hornets finished fourth twice in Bird’s freshman and sophomore seasons.

“With her, she grew up here,” Gibson said. “She came here as a freshman and had these amazing performances. … We knew we had something special.”

The highest finish in program history was third in 2A in 2012, and third in 3A in 2000.

Gibson said, with Bird, he’ll miss the numbers, but he’ll miss the person more.

“She’s great to her teammates. … Just kind of the rock and center of the program personally,” Gibson said.

Jane Allyn Norris, Lucy Rasmussen and Lily Tranquillo are the other seniors that played their final game for White River on Saturday.

Gibson said, overall, he couldn’t be happier with the season the Hornets had.

“I can’t question their effort, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’m happy with the season. The season is a journey, it’s been four months, and these kids have done a nice job.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2017 at 8:11 PM with the headline "Wapato 67, White River 48: Hornets take sixth, Bird finishes career with 1,934 points."