No. 3 Central Valley hands top-ranked Woodinville its first loss of the season, wins 4A girls state title

After Friday’s semifinal victory over Union, Central Valley senior Peyton Howard relished the opportunity for the Bears to face the undefeated and top-ranked Woodinville Falcons in the 4A state championship game.

Howard saw it is as an opportunity for the Bears to show they were the best by beating the best.

On Saturday night, Central Valley made the most of its opportunity. The Bears led throughout the game and thwarted a Woodinville comeback in the fourth quarter, hanging on for a 59-55 win and securing their second championship in the last three years.

“It’s amazing,” Howard said. “We worked so hard and we put in so much time out of school and on weekends. Our coach pushes us so hard. She’s the best coach in the state, clearly.”

Howard was referring to head coach Felice Orrell, who led the Bears to the title in her first season as the team’s head coach.

Putting together a gameplan for the undefeated Falcons would seem like a challenge, but Orrell had her team prepared. They took the lead early in the first quarter and never gave it back. Woodinville junior Mia Hughes had 28 points to lead all scorers, but she went through long lulls where she didn’t score, specifically in the first and third quarters.

“I don’t think many people have ever fronted her,” Orrell said. “That was our plan, to not let her sit on the block and do drop step lay-ins. There were times or lapses where we weren’t fronting her and she would get a bucket, and then we just tried to make sure we had that backside help. We were just trying to make her a little more uncomfortable.”

But it’s nearly impossible to hold Hughes down for an entire 32 minutes. She scored 10 points in the first quarter to help keep her team within eight at halftime.

“Mia kept us in the game,” Woodinville head coach Scott Bullock said. “I think right before halftime Mia went on a little 10-0 spree herself. In the second half, you could see the look in her eye. She even took one three today. You could just see she was going to do whatever she could to will her team to win. I love that girl.”

While Hughes tried to do her part to keep the Falcons close. Sophomore guard Tatum Thompson spent much of the first half on the bench in foul trouble. She finished with 10 points, but the Falcons really needed her in the first 16 minutes.

We struggled in the first half, big time,” Bullock said. “We got in foul trouble and we’re not a deep team, and I think that got our kids rattled a little bit. Once we had our full lineup back in the second half, I thought we made some good runs, but it was just a little bit too big of a hole to try and dig ourselves out of.”

The Falcons (28-1) trailed by as many as 16, but battled back in the fourth quarter to pull within three. Freshman Brooke Beresford would get a look at a shot to tie the game, but it rimmed out.

“We had a good look at a three to tie the thing at the end,” Bullock said. “That was a good shot by Brooke, right in the cup, but it just wasn’t going to be our day.”

Junior Chloe Williams led the Bears (23-3) with 20 points. Howard chipped in 18 and junior MJ Bruno added 15. Howard made 12 of her 17 free-throw attempts, including several crucial ones in the final moments to help clinch the victory.

“I knew I had to do it for my team,” Howard said. “They were relying on me to make those buckets to seal the deal. I had to do it, so I did it.”

It was a wonderful way for Howard’s Central Valley career to come to an end after missing all of her junior season with a knee injury.

“I knew going in to (the season) that we could do big things,” Howard said. “I knew we could win a state championship. This is the best way to go out. This is a great senior year.”

At Tacoma Dome

Woodinville- 11 13 9 22 - 55

Central Valley- 15 17 10 17 - 59

Woodinville – Tatum Thompson 10, Veronica Sheffey 8, Jaela Eggers 0, Mia Hughes 28, Brooke Beresford 6, Natalie Bright 3, Hannah Bowles 0, Autumn Selle 0. Central Valley – Michael Pitts 0, MJ Bruno 15, Peyton Howard 18, Grace Geldien 6, Chloe Williams 20, Abby Lewis 0.