Tumwater girls defeat Burlington-Edison to take third in 2A state tournament
One of the hardest things to do in sports is to live up to expectations.
When five talented ninth graders arrived in the Tumwater High School girls’ basketball program together last season, the hype, locally, was on a par as when the Fab Five freshman joined Michigan’s men’s program in the 1990s.
The Thunderbirds were expected to do everything and do it immediately. Instead, they were knocked out of post-season short of the state tournament in 2019.
This season was different, with Tumwater winning the 2A Evergreen Conference and reaching state with a 3-1 trip through the District 4 tournament. With a nine-point second half lead in Friday evening’s semi-final against West Valley of Spokane, it looked like the third-seeded T-Birds were about to play for a state championship.
Instead, the Eagles rallied to win at the buzzer, devastating each of the nine T-Bird players.
“We’re a team that likes to win, it wouldn’t have mattered if that had been a summer league game,” said third-year Tumwater coach Robin Johnson. “Since they were little, they’ve always wanted to get first place.”
They sat down to dinner deep in gloom, but after a short talk from their coaches and athletic director Tim Graham, turned their thoughts to winning Saturday morning’s third or fifth place game against Burlington-Edison at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
“I told them I’d be disappointed if they weren’t upset and emotional, but that I’d also be disappointed if they didn’t come back and fight today,” Johnson said. “Our loss wouldn’t define us. How we responded today would define us.”
Tumwater (25-3) wanted the shiniest trophy, but they also wanted to help the lone player remaining from before Johnson became coach in 2017-18, senior Olivia Bailon, win her final game in a T-Bird uniform.
Mission accomplished.
Though both teams were playing their third game in as many days, Tumwater looked much fresher and pulled away from No. 5 Burlington-Edison (21-6) as halftime approached, going on to a 62-48 victory.
“A trophy’s a trophy and we wanted to end our season on a win for Liv,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s daughter, guard Aubrey Amendala, agreed.
“It was hard to bounce back, but to do it for our senior made it easier,” she said.
Bailon, who led the T-Birds on Saturday with five assists and two steals, found it hard to let go of the bigger season-long goal.
“Our goal was to win state, so to come back overnight with a new goal was tough,” she said. “But we had to do it for each other.”
Amendala, who scored 19, and Natalie Sumrok, who finished with 18, faced strong teams with accurate scouting reports on them for one of the first times, but found routes to the basket. Five other players scored at least four points, with Kaari Little and Lily McCauley coming off the bench to tally six timely points each.
“I’m not used to that. It’s a new kind of pressure and I realized I have to work with it,” said Sumrok, a 5-foot-10 sophomore. “They were face-guarding me and I don’t normally get face-guarded. My team knew what was going on. We worked together to overcome that.”
Amendala has often been a focal point of opposing defenses, but not day after day from players of a higher caliber.
“It’s harder to get open, it’s harder to run plays for our team,” the 5-6 point guard said.
Tumwater grabbed a 7-1 lead at the outset, but the Tigers rallied to tie as late as 18-18 with four minutes left in the first half. A spate of four fouls within 90 seconds led to four free throws by Sumrok and one by Amendala, allowing Tumwater to finish the half on a 14-4 run.
In the second half, Burlington-Edison would get no closer than eight points, which the Tigers did 38 seconds from the end on a follow shot by Katie King that made it 56-48.
Amendala then connected on five of six free throws down the stretch to insure Tumwater wouldn’t be caught.
Miranda Maskell and Amy Rainhaud-Hinds led Burlington-Edison with 10 points apiece.
Bailon, who will run both cross country and track & field at Oregon State next year, was tearful looking back at her T-Bird basketball career.
“It’s crazy, I feel like it’s gone by way too fast,” she said. “I love these girls. I’m so blessed to have played with them. It’s been an awesome experience.”
Interestingly, Johnson was the coach at Black Hills the last time Tumwater earned a state trophy, claiming fourth in 2011 with a 57-45 win over Lynden, behind post Mackenzie Cooper and college-bound guards Tayler Weiks (Idaho/Central Missouri) and Jordyn Richardson (St. Martin’s).
Now, with the bulk of the roster returning for two more years, it might be safe to say Tumwater is fully “back” in the mix with the state’s top 2A teams.
“I’m really happy with our progress. We really wanted our players to be here and experience this,” said Johnson. “Being one bucket away from being in the championship is difficult but it sets the tone for who Tumwater is and wants to be.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 6:10 PM.