By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Greater St. Helen's League 2A Hockinson used an all inclusive philosophy to down Seamount League 3A Kennedy Catholic 55-46 for the girls basketball championship of the 2014 Oberto's Christmas Classic held at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School (Burien) on Mon., Dec. 29.

"We stick to the plan of being a team," said Hawks coach Damon Roche. "Everyone plays. Tonight, eight of the nine players scored and five of the nine had steals. We want to keep the pressure on. Our press is not mainly to steal the ball; it is to slow the other team, using 10-12 seconds up and hurry up their shots.

They only had two outside shooters. Once we marked them, we forced other people to get the ball. Once we got the lead, we wanted to keep the flow going."

Trailing by 49-35 with 6:37 remaining in the fourth quarter following a previous 15-point deficit, Kennedy Catholic shifted to frantic mode to bring home the first place trophy. But KC had a tough, high mountain to climb due to the somewhat passive nature and error prone play it had displayed for much of the game.
All-tournament selection Kelsey Abrejera fired home a 3-pointer that was answered by a Megan Vandermaas field goal for Hockinson before the Lancers made final charges. Jasmine Moore's put back basket closed out a 6-0 Kennedy Catholic charge that brought the Lancers within 49-41 with just less than three minutes left, but Payton Wangler drove home a lay up for a 51-41 Hawk margin with less than two minutes to go. Ariell Garnett converted two free throws to make the score 51-43 at the one-minute mark. After two Wangler free throws with 54.5 seconds showing, Garnett whooshed a 3-point goal to bring Kennedy Catholic within 53-46, but only 7.3 seconds were remaining. Sydnie Cole-Vogler notched a pair of free throws at the five-second mark for the final game tallies.

"It's the same problem we had the last game," Lancer coach Greg Caldwell said. "It was hard to get all five players working on the same idea at the same time, so we had trouble getting continuity. Our aggressiveness was not strong until the last three or four minutes."

Garnett and Abrejera shot the Lancers to an 11-8 lead after one quarter and the Lancers extended the margin to 18-9 early in the second quarter, but Sydnie Cole-Vogler and Wangler lead a Hawk charge to close within 18-17. Nikki Miller hit a layin before Hockinson charged ahead, 23-20. Four consecutive Keely Nordberg points sent the Hawks flying to halftime with a 27-22 lead.

Taking charge on a third quarter scoring blitz, Hockinson claimed the court to obtain many scoring opportunities. a run of six consecutive points powered the Hawks to a 42-28 dominance heading into the third quarter.

Kaylee Harteloo's 3-pointer was matched by one from Abrejera leave the Lancers behind at 47-35 with 5:55 left.

Garnett led Lancer scorers with 21 while Abrejera posted 15 points, five rebounds and three steals.
Hockinson countered with spread out scoring paced by 6-foot, 1-inch Elle Tilkin's 11 points. Cole-Vogler and Vandermaas each had nine points. Wangler notched eight while Brittany McGuire Nordberg had seven apiece.

Emerald Ridge defeated Kentwood, 61-39 in the 3rd-4th place game.

Abrejera's teammates on the all-tournament team included MVP Tilkin, Cole-Vogler, Kentwood's Zaria Jones and Alyssa Heslip of Emerald Ridge.