Under the bright lights of the Tacoma Dome, the Ballard Beavers concluded one amazing season by defeating Snohomish 52-44 and taking home the fourth place 4A State Basketball Tournament trophy on Saturday.

The Beaver girls compiled a 24-3 record this season, while winning the Surf N'Slam Tournament in San Diego, tying for a share of the KingCo Mountain Division title and beating Inglemoor for the KingCo District Tournament championship.

Earning a state trophy was on the team's mind since training camp.

"We wanted to bring back some hardware (trophy) from the state tournament. That was our last goal," said head coach Karen Blair.

For the players, it was their first trip to state. For Blair, she is a post season veteran, having won state titles with Meadowdale (2000 and 2004) and qualifying for the state tournament 10 times.

Saturday's win gave Blair a 301- 66 record in 14 seasons of coaching, the last three years with Ballard where she turned around a struggling program.

After beating Rogers 48-39 to open the tournament at the Tacoma Dome, Ballard lost the next game to Pasco 55-45. The loss knocked them out of the state title bracket that was eventually won by Lewis and Clark.

In the consolation bracket, the Beavers beat a strong Kentwood team 57-46 to set up the Snohomish game for fourth.

The 2007/2008 season is one of the best in school history.

"We set some goals, struggled with some of the little things to be successful," said Blair. "They persevered. They worked through adversity and did a good job."

Senior point guard Kayla Williams wrapped up her four-year career by making the state tournament second team. Earlier, Williams was named the KingCo League's Most Valuable Player honor.

Last year she was All-KingCo Second Team. Williams was fourth in KingCo scoring with an average of 13 points a game.

Williams has been offered a scholarship from Carroll College in Helena, Mont., and Seattle University has shown interest.

Jeannette Hansen was the top rebounder in the tournament with 13.7 a game. She was named to the All-KingCo First Team and averaged 9.2 points a game for Ballard. On defense, her height and long arms made her a force in the middle as a shot blocker.

Evangeline Spracklin, who scored 9 points a game and Alexandria Lawrence were named to the KingCo Honorable Mention list.

This year's graduating seniors include: Williams; Hansen; Spracklin; Anika Jakobsen; Molly Magee; and Yordanos Kasahun.

The roster this season included: sophomores, Alexandria Lawrence, Rosemary Spracklin; juniors, Brianna Green and Madeleine Maguire; and freshmen, Theresa Moriarty and Elena DeWeese.

Head coach Karen Blair was assisted by: Bryan and Jessica Howisey; Ryan Weems; and Kristina Netzler. The Director of Basketball Operations was Soodjai Kutrakun, the trainer Loka Murphy, statistician Jen Clark and scorebook was handled by Mary Williams.

The voice of the Beavers at their home games was Jim Vatn.

The Ballard Beavers Girls Basketball Fourth Annual Youth Basketball Camp is June 23-26.