Tahoma tops Emerald Ridge in semis, advances to 4A district championship game

Really, it shouldn’t have been necessary. The Class 4A North Puget Sound League champs twice had built what seemed insurmountable advantages on Wednesday night in University Place.

Yet somehow, with less than three minutes to play in the first 4A West Central/Southwest district tournament semifinal at Curtis High School, Emerald Ridge clawed its way back to a tie game with Tahoma. That turned the game into Hope Hassmann time.

Necessary or not, Hassmann wrested control from everyone else in the floor. The Bears point guard scored seven of her 16 total points over the final 2:17, and Tahoma advanced to Saturday’s district title game with a 50-45 victory.

The Bears will play 4A Greater St. Helens League champion Camas, a 59-37 winner over 4A SPSL champion Sumner in the second semifinal, for the championship.

“It’s special,” Tahoma coach Peter Smith said. “Is our first time here since 1999.”

Before Hassmann took over down the stretch, the Bears had gotten a balanced effort in what played out as a defensive struggle.

The teams combined to score just 31 points in the first half, with Tahoma leading 18-13 at the break.

“You’ve got two of the top defensive teams in the state,” Emerald Ridge coach Arvin Mosley said. “I think we’re still fourth or fifth in points allowed, and they’re like No. 2. You see what happens. They were able to make a few more shots.”

Lily Cavanaugh especially figured it out. The junior guard led all scorers with 17 points for Tahoma, including the final Bears point when she made the second of two free throws with 1.9 seconds left on the clock to get her team to 50 on the scoreboard.

“Fifty is our number,” Smith said. “If we keep the other team under that and we score it, we feel good.”

It was Cavanaugh’s 3-pointer at the buzzer ending the third quarter that extended the Tahoma lead to seven again, 32-25. Earlier in the quarter Tahoma had built a 12-point advantage, 29-17, while holding the Jaguars scoreless for nearly five minutes of clock time.

Lauryn Frederickson made a few throw to push the lead to nine again, 40-31, with 5:14 to play.

But Monique Carter hit her second 3-pointer of the game for Emerald Ridge with 4:47 left to spark a 9-0 run capped by two free throws from Ryah McGriff with 2:42 left.

Suddenly, the game was tied.

“We know how to get a stop when we need one,” Hassmann said.

The Tahoma senior pulled up in the lane short of the 6-foot-1 McGriff and gathered in a 10-foot jumper with 2:17 to go. That put Tahoma back in front for good, 42-40, when Kailey Verhoeven missed the front end of a one-and-one chance 17 seconds later for the Jaguars.

Tahoma made eight of 10 free throws in the final 1:46 to seal the win and earn its spot in the district final Saturday back here at Curtis.

Camas 59, Sumner 37

The Papermakers shook off early shooting woes, pulled away with a productive second quarter, and coasted into Saturday’s district championship game.

While Camas finally began making shots, the Spartans managed just 10 baskets and trailed by 20 or more for most of the second half.

Sophie Buzzard scored 13 points to lead three Papermakers in double figures. Lainee Houillon led all scorers for Sumner with 14.

This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 9:10 PM.