TACOMA - It was a scintillating season that ended on a fitting note of victory for the high-achieving and deserving Mount Rainier girls basketball team.
An early surge and a late stand powered the Rams (27-2) to a 56-51 victory against Gonzaga Prep in trophy game round action at the 2012 Class 4A WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires girls basketball Hardwood Classic state high school championship tournament held at the Tacoma Dome on Saturday, March 3.
Collecting the third place team hardware was the highest finish in school history and the first trophy since 1979.
"The girls put forth a great effort," said a pleased Ram head coach Bob Bolam. "We got hot with the threes and proved we're as good as anyone in the state."
Clutching a shaky 53-51 lead with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Mount Rainier braced itself for a Gonzaga Prep possession that could tie or give the lead for the Bullpups.
Five seconds later, Lindsey Stockton stepped in front of Brittany McPhee who was dribbling down the sideline at mid court, drawing a player controlled foul on the Ram star who fouled on the play.
Cassie Andersen drew clear for a shot that wouldn't fall as Kiana Gandy rebounded and drew the foul
Without any hesitation or indecisiveness, Gandy converted two clutch free throws with 26.1 seconds left and AMber Guillot nailed a single free throw to end the game's scoring.
"We couldn't finish first, but we definitely focused on winning third place," said first team all-tournament player Brittany McPhee and SPSL North MVP who got hot in the second half to score 17 points after being held to two in the opening half. "We wanted to win this one for our seniors. It's a step in the right direction (to the title). We get closer and closer each year."
Despite playing a physically and emotional semifinal fray less than 24 hours earlier, Mount Rainier opened up energetically, showing the poise and precision that got it to the Tacoma Dome.
Guard Amber Guillot's outside goal and three-pointer sandwiched around good inside-outside point making from Jordan and Brittany McPhee plus Gandy sailed the Rams to a 10-1 first quarter lead on the way to a 29-18 second quarter margin before settling for a 29-20 halftime control. Kaiti Freeberg's three-pointer to open the second quarter added to the beyond the arc points for MR. Guillot's two three-pointers and Maylynn Mitchell's pair of goals from beyond the arc paced a team effort as Brittany McPhee shot sparingly with defensive pressure and three fouls keeping her in check.
Suddenly, the Bullpups caught the scent of a comeback by running to 11 consecutive points in the opening minute of the second half to claim 31-29 edge with 3:54 remaining in the third quarter.
Brittany McPhee emerged for the Rams and tried to shoulder the load on eight consecutive MR points to offset eight Gonzaga Prep tallies.
Trailing 39-37 as the fourth quarter began, Mount Rainier saw its deficit widen to 41-37 before the Rams put everything they had on the court.
Gonzaga Prep still held a 43-41 margin before Mount Rainier made its key ascension to victory.
Jordan McPhee assisted twin sister Brittany for a basket just before Guillot torched a corner three-pointer with 3:12 remaining. Jordan McPhee downed two free throws after a Bullpup turnover and subsequently stole the ball, leading to Brittany's conversion of a free throw and a 49-43 control at the 2:35 mark.
Four consecutive Brittany McPhee free throws as part of a 12-2 quarter run offset four Bullpup points, but Madison Wright keyed a Gonzaga Prep rally that sliced away a 53-47 Ram lead to the 53-51 score that set up the final frenetic minutes.
"We've worked so hard, I wasn't going to lose this one," said Jordan McPhee, who scored seven points and corralled seven caroms.
Amber Guillot fired up the team with her outside shooting and enjoyed being a key contributor in her 12-point effort after eight critical first half points.
"It's great being with my teammates," she said. "Everybody wanted it."
Guillot closed with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point land.
When asked about why she was so effective today, the excited athlete just grinned and shrugged her shoulders.
Wright paced Gonzaga Prep with 10 points.
Senior Kiana Gandy, who was 6-of-6 from the free throw line with five rebounds, felt good about being able to finish with a win.
"I'm really excited," she burst out. "This has never happened where we finished with a win. I'm proud of all my teammates. We prepared and really worked hard for this, for sure."
Assistant coach Lance Hepworth was visibly moved with tears in his eyes, especially for hard working four-year varsity player Gandy..
"You're with these girls so much, it's like they're yours," he said.
Looking ahead, Bolam expressed enthusiasm, but tempered it with the knowledge of some losses from this team.
"We've got a few holes to fill, especially Kiana (Gandy)," he said.
Another hole to fill will be senior guard Maylynn Mitchell.
Mitchell has also been in the Mount Rainier program for four years, starting the past three and being a co-captain with Gandy.
Closing out her basketball career with a win was truly important to her.
"This meant so much," the Ram athlete expressed. "I'm done with basketball now, but I'm so glad I was able to play with this team. We've done so much, and it's good just to end this way."
After this ending, Mitchell will close out her high school athletic career by playing her main sport of fastpitch softball in which she plays shortstop well enough to have already signed with Cal State Northridge.
Kathy Lukas is another graduating senior.
The McPhee twins, Jordan and Brittany, will return with most of this year's group.
In addition to its state third place trophy, Mount Rainier exits center stage, leaving a huge host of accomplishments on its final resume of the 2011-2012 season.
The Rams won the South Puget Sound League North championship before avenging their only regular season defeat in a 60-40 West Central District III/Southwest bi-district title defeat of Federal Way.
Following a regional win in the Sweet Sixteen round, Mount Rainier destroyed its quarterfinal opponent ahead of losing its semifinal on a three-pointer in the waning seconds against state runner up Central Valley, which lost a 46-43 championship game on a late three-pointer against Skyview.
During most of their wins, the Rams ended with 20-30 point margins.
This season's third-place state Mount Rainier player roster includes Jordan McPhee, Amanda Goucher, Kaiti Freeberg, Amber Guillot, Brittany McPhee, Kathy Lukas, Maylynn Mitchell, Danika Santos, Ajah Piper, Emily Fiso and Kiana Gandy.
Assisting head coach Bolam are coaches Lance Hepworth, Rod Wallis and Nicole Calkins. Darren Rawie is the athletic director.
Mt. Rainier 57, Jackson 39
It was a matter of hot and cold as Mount Rainier won its state quarterfinal game over the Jackson Timber Wolves by a decisive 57-39 score last Thursday.
The Rams were the hot shooting team, nailing 11 of 24 shots from the field in the first half for 45.8 percent and 9 of 18 in the second half for 50 percent. Jackson of Mill Creek, meanwhile, shot an icy 8 of 30 in the first half for 26.7 percent and 8 of 28 in the second half for 28.6 percent.
The win nailed down an eventual trophy for Mount Rainier.
"Coach (Bolam) told us we had not won a trophy since 1979," said Gandy.
"We weren't even born then. We wanted a trophy."
Gandy was born in 1994 and Brittany McPhee, who was standing nearby, was born in 1996.
"We know all about that, don't we," said Bolam, who graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1979.
The Rams played strong defense, led by McPhee, who also led in scoring with 22 points.
"Brittany is not just an offensive player, she's an all-around player," said Bolam. "Offensively she knows how to stop and start. She's really special. Big players step up in big games."
McPhee also led with nine rebounds, and Gandy was second in scoring with 16 points. Jordan McPhee hit nine as Guillot and Emily Fiso scored four each and Mitchell two.
Sierra Anderson led Jackson with 15 points.
Mount Rainier jumped out to a 16-2 lead on a basket and free throw by Gandy with 1:59 to go in the first quarter and led, 18-3, at the end of the quarter and 30-20 at halftime.
"We played them even the second and third quarter, but the start definitely killed us," said Jackson head coach Jeannie Boyer. "Their defensive pressure was pretty good."
Central Valley 42, Mt. Rainier 40
Mount Rainier led most of the way in Friday's semifinal against the Bears from the Spokane area -- but only most of the way.
"We didn't have a lead in this game for 4.9 seconds," said Bolam.
"Unfortunately, it was the last 4.9 seconds."
The Rams still led, 40-39, despite a three-pointer by Central Valley's Katie Estey with 3:36 to play, but missed the chance to build it back up on 0-for-3 free throw shooting down the stretch.
The last miss came on the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 16.2 seconds left, then Sydney Emory of the Bears buried a three-point shot from the left corner and pumped her fist in excitement about the sudden 42-40 lead.
Bolam called time out with 2.0 seconds left, but the inbounds pass was smothered by Madison Hovren of Central Valley to end the game.
"The girls wanted it," said Bolam. "But we only scored 12 points in the second half, and that's not going to win it."
Brittany McPhee led the Rams with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Gandy hit eight points along with Jordan McPhee. Guillot finished with five and Mitchell hit two.
Hovren led Central Valley's balanced attack with nine points.
Tim Clinton contributed the Jackson and Central Valley portions of this report.
