3/8/2025
(Tacoma, WA) The girls 3A Hardwood Classic at the Tacoma Dome will be followed start to finish on this post. We will update daily the scores and short re-caps with links to the game replays, updated bracket and the WIAA’s Tournament Central.
The Central Valley Grizzlies are state Champs! Below is our coverage of the entire tournament from last year’s winners to the Regional scores and re-caps to our trophy day stories.
Link to WIAA Tournament Central
Saturday, March 8 CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY!
State Championship Game
(1) Central Valley 39, (6) Lakeside (Sea) 34
By most accounts this game was over at the half with the Bears again just chuggng along offensively but their shut down defense was wreaking havoc on the Lakeside Lions. The Lions scored 7 and 6 in the 1st half and trailed 25-13. Despite being down 12, they were fortunate it wasn’t a lot more. Additionally, their leading scorer Willa Chinn found herself in foul trouble.
The unexpected can and does happen. The Lakeside Lions would wake up and have their best quarter, outscoring their entire 1st half with 15. The unexpected was the Bears were scoreless until the very end of the quarter and managed only 3 3rd quarter points and heading into the final 8 minutes it was all even at 28.
However, in a risky move Lakeside put Chinn back in the game with about a minute to go into the 3rd with 4 fouls. Chinn was in about 15 seconds when she tried to take a charge, another risky move leaving it up to an official to decide between a charge or block and unfortunately for Chinn it was a block and she was out of the game and not available for the 4th quarter.
The Lions just didn’t have the offense to hold off Central Valley as they surged to a 39-34 State Championship. This would be the 7th Title for the Bears last winning it in 2019, the last team to win it prior to Garfield 4 year reign. And they did it in style finishing the year unblemished with a perfect 27-0 record.
The Bears were led by Brynn McGaughy’s double-double of 11 points and 11 boards. That was enough to earn our Thorbeckes MVP award. Eden Sander also had a solid game for the Champs with 8 points and 5 rebounds.
The Lions just missed in a tremendous effort wsith Helen Christofillis stepping up with a game high 14 points. The Lions settled for 2nd place and finished the year 25-5 for the year.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
Consolation Games
8am 4th/6th Place Game
(17) Bellevue 47, (7) Kennewick 34
The 17 seed Bellevue Wolverines weren’t just happy with taking home 1 of 6 trophies they wanted to end the tournament with no doubt they were totally overlooked in the seeding process. The Wolverines jumped out to a big 25-11 halftime lead over the Kennewick Lions and picked up the 4th place trophy with an comfortable 13 point win.
Trinity Palmer-Wilson led the Wolvewrines with a double-double scoring 10 and grabbing 13 rebounds and earned her our Thorbeckes MVP of the game. She got plenty of help from Nayvi Robinson on the boards as she hauled in 17 boards. Athena LaBow led Bellevue in scoering with 11 and Syesha Simanton had 10.
For Kennewick June Fiander had 9 points and 5 rebounds while Ashlyn Dress scored 7 with 9 boards. The Lions finished the season with a 19-9 record and took home the 6th place trophy.
Bellevue heads home with the 4th place trophy and finished the year with a 25-7 mark.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
11:15am 3rd/5th Place Game
(2) North Thurston 77, (19) Garfield 49
The 19th seeded Garfield Bulldogs nearly headed to the State Championship game seeking their 5th straight Title when a last second shot on Friday missed to send it to overtime and they fell into the 3rd place game.
The North Thurston Rams, still looking for their 1st ever Championship also dropped a heart breaker in the semi’s a 42-40 defeat to Lakeside. So coming into this 3rd place game who would be motivated is always the question? It was clearly the Rams.
North Thurston took a 20-9 opening quarter lead and never looked back. Soraya Olgadez led North Thurston with 24 points and doubled up with 11 rebounds. For her performance she was named our Thorbeckes MVP of the game. Olgadez had plenty of back-up with Shayla Cordis hitting for 23 and 6 rebounds while Grace Lee was 13 and 8.
Garfield looked like a team who was very tired and they should have been. They played and won 4 straight loser out games to even get to Thursday. Then getting to the semi’s and falling short in such a dramatic way there was just nothing left for today’s game. The Bulldogs were led by Jayda Lewis who had another big game with 22 and Lena Most added 11. Garfield ended the season 18-10 and with the 5th place trophy becoming the highest seed in any sport ever to win a trophy.
North Thurston finished off a spectacular season with a 3rd place trophy to add to the Rams trophy case. They finished the season with a 29-2 record.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
Friday, March 7 Semifinal Friday
Consoltion Round (Loser Out)
(7) Kennewick 62, (4) Stanwood 51
Kennewick trailed the Spartans by 1 at the half but a combinmation of stingy defense that led to an ice cold Stanwood squad saw the Lions roar ourscoring the Spartans 39-17 in the 2nd half and advances to trophy day.
Kennewick was led by June Fiander with 19 points and had plenty of offensive help with Rylee Bendewald scoring 13 and both Ashlyn Dress and Karsyn Ripplinger with 10. Fiander was named our Thorbeckes MVP.
Stanwood was led by a huge day from Ellalee Wortham with 25 and 14 by Jazmyn Legg with 14 but were knocked out. The Spartans finished the year with a 21-6 record.
Kennewick is now 19-8 and will play Bellevue at 8am on Saturday.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
(17) Bellevue 64, (5) Seattle Prep 46
After dropping as tough quarterfinal to North Thurston the Wolverines were in no mood to go home before Saturday and put up a 21-9 2nd quarter to fuel a fairly easy win into Saturday’s Trophy round.
Dilynn Johnson continued to be a burden to defenses scoring 17. Trinity Palmer-Wilson added 10 and Nayvi Robinson hit 10 and 9 rebounds to lead Belleve on the boards. With her overall effort Robinson earned our Thorbeckes MVP award.
Seattle Prep was led by Grace Renners 15 points. The Panthers were eliminated and finished the season 20-10. Bellevue improved to 24-7 and will play for 4th place on Saturday.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
Semifinals (Winner to Championship, Loser to 3rd place game)
(1) Central Valley 51, (19) Garfield 49
Garfield is the 4-time defending champs and Central Valley was the last team not named Garfield to win a titled when they took their 6th Championship in 2019. However, the Bulldogs had graduated a lot of players and limped into the tournament as the 19 seed.
The Bears of C-V know how to win close games and came in with a 25-0 record. Garfield came in at 17-9 but had won 4 straight loser out games prior to reaching the quarterfinals. The Bears led through 3 quarters but could never shake loose from the determined Bulldogs up 43-36.
In the 4th quarter Garfield went on their run and actually the lead back. C-V answsered and pulled out to a 51-46 lead with about 30 seconds to play when Lena Most drained a huge 3 ball for Garfield with 14 seconds to play.
After a time-out, the Bears had possession and the Bulldogs fouled right away. Both free throws were missed and the Bulldogs had a chance to tie or win it. Most broke straight to the hoop for the game winning lay-in when the Bears Brynn McGaughy blocked the shot and grabbed the loose ball to ice the win and assure there would be a new 3A Champion.
Drae Domebo led the Bears with 12 and McGaughy added 11 and doubled up with 13 boards with 3 blocked shots including the game winner and for that reason was named the Thorbeckes MVP of the game. C-V heads to the Championship game at 3pm on Saturday against Lakeside shooting for their 7th State Championship.
Garfield will play in the 3rd/5th place game on Saturday at 11:15am against North Thurston.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
(6) Lakeside 42, (2) North Thurston 40
The North Thurston Rams were the 2 seed and a win would send them up against the 1 in Central Valley but they had to contend with a very good Lakeside squad in the semifinals. The Lions were the 6 seed but the coming from the Metro league certainly had their skills sharpened.
Both team’s defenses were razor sharp which led to the offenses struggling. Neither team scored more than 13 points in a single quarter. The Rams had led 23-21 at the half and it was tied 32-32 after 3.
With 25 seconds to play in the game Lakeside led 40-38 when Soraya Olgadez drained a 2 to tie it at 40-40. The Lions go the ball into front court and then called time-out with 10-seconds to play. The Lions got the ball to Willa Chinn who drove the lane and was fouled and sent to the line with 3 seconds to play. Chinn hit them both. A last gasp effort by the Rams was denied and Lakeside set their date for the State Championship game on Saturday at 3pm against Central Valley.
Willa Chinn led the Lions wsith 12 and 7 rebounds and Anvi Bhatia had 8 points and 11 rebounds and earned our Thorbeckes MVP award.
North Thurston will now face Garfield for 3rd place at 11:15am on Saturday and were led by the 15 points of Shayla Cordis.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
Thursday, March 6 (Winner to Quarterfinals, Loser Out)
(19) Garfield 52, (4) Stanwood 30
The Garfield Bulldogs continue to point out they are the 4-TIME defending State Champs and seeding them 19th is not stopping them is seeking #5 in a row. The Bulldogs have blown up the questionable 19 seeding to say the least and continued on their path to #5 b y easily handling 4 seeded Stanwood.
The Bulldogs did it with consistency scoring 14 in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters building a 42-23 lead and the game was over before entering the final 8 minutes. The stiff Bulldog defense held the Spartans to single digits in 3 of the 4 quarters and will move on to the State Semifinals as the first ever 19 seed to do so.
Garfield’s Jayda Lewis was named the Thorbeckes MVP of the game as she knocked in 18 added 5 boards, 5 assists and 7 steals. Lena Most backed up Lewis with a dozen points. The Bulldogs shot 41% from the floor and held the Spartans to just 32%.
Leading Stanwood was Ellalee Wortham with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Ava Depew was busy in the paint with 9 boards. Stanwood drops to 21-5 and will play Kennewick on Friday in a consolation loser out game at 9am.
Garfield is now 17-9 and will take on top seeded Central Valley at 3:45pm Friday afternoon in the 1st semifinal of the day.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
(1) Central Valley 45, (7) Kennewick 37
It took top seed Central Valley a little bit of time to get their offense rolling as they only put 5 in the 1st quarter. Fortunately for them the Kennewick Lions weren’t much better with 8 and blew a golden opportunity to put a lot of pressure on the Bears. The Lions would score another 8 for 16 at the half while the Bears got rolling a little bit with 13 and took an 18-16 lead. C-V and Kennewick stalemated with 11 in the 3rd and the Bears would ease away for an 8 point win.
Central Valley was led by Eden Sander blew up for 24 points and 7 rebounds and went 10-10 at the free throw line, while Brynn McGaughy scored 9 while hauling in 18 rebounds and added 5 blocked shots. Sander was named the Thorbeckes MVP of the game for her effort.
Kennewick was led by Rylee Bendewald with 12 and June Fiander added 10. The Lions will now play Stanwood on Friday at 9am in a consolation, loser out contest.
Central Valley remains undefeated at 25-0 and will next face the 19 seed Garfield in Friday’s 3:45pm semifinal. The Bulldogs may be the 19 seed but they are the 4 time defending State Champs and may have an extra chip on their shoulder with that 19 seed.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
(6) Lakeside (Sea) 47, (5) Seattle Prep 40
These two Metro league foes know each other very well and are well matched. It wasn’t a surprise the game would be close nor that either one would get the win. On this day that would go to the Lakeside Lions who split with the Seattle Prep Panthers during the season and districts.
Lakeside led 24-20 at the break led by a buzzer beating 3-pointer by Willa Chinn. The key quarter was the 3rd with the lions outscoring S-P 12-9. The two would push at 11 in the 4th quarter and the Lions held on for the win.
Chinn would earn our Thorbeckes MVP award as she led all scorers with 22, was 2-4 from the 3-point line and 10-10 from the charity stripe. The Lions would shoot 36% but were a huge 15-19 from the line shooting 79% for the freebies.
Seattle Prep got 19 points from Grace Renners who kept the Panthers in the game including a big 3 in the 4th quarter. She was 3-7 from behind the arc. Seattle Prep is now 21-9 and will battle Bellevue on Friday in a consolation, loser out game at 10:30am.
Lakeside improves to 24-4 and advances to the semifinals against 2nd seed North Thurston at 5:30pm.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
(2) North Thurston 63, (17) Bellevue 50
Many times when you let a team hang around, especially an underdog, especially-especially a mad underdog it leads to a hurtful loss. The 2nd seeded North Thurston Rams did just that with 17 seed Bellevue who probably were not pleased with the 17th seed.
The Wolverines led at the half 28-24 and were feeling pretty good going into the break. In the 2nd half the Rams regrpuped in a hurry and opened up their stoic offense knocking down 17 points while holding Bellevue to just 11. The defense did the same job on the Wolverines and helds them to 11 in the 4th quarter while their high powered offense kicked it into top gear scoring 22 winning going away 63-50.
The Rams who lost their opening game to 4a Olympia on a non-league game have since reeled off 28 straight wins to improve to 28-1. The Rams were led by Soraya Ogaldez with 29 she added 8 boarsds 3 assists and 5 steals to win our Thorbeckes MVP of the game award. Shala Cordis wasn’t far behind with 20 as those two dominated the North Thurston offense.
Bellevue got 21 from Trinity Palmer-Wilson and 13 from Syesha Simanton. The Wolverines drop to 23-7 and will play Seattle Prep at 10:30am in a consolation, loser out contest.
The Rams will look for a faster start when they take on Lakeside in the 5:30 semifinal trying to get to the State Championship game.
Link to Box Score
Link to full game replay on the NFHS Network
Wednesday, March 5 (Winner to Quarterfinals, Loser Out)
(19) Garfield 51 (3) White River 47
The 4-time State defending Champs may have been abit annoyed with the 19 seed and have battled through 3 straight loser out games and have moved on to the quarterfinals after holding off 3 seeded White River.
Lena Most led the Bulldogs with 14 points inluding a key 3-point shot in the 4th quarter to give Garfield the lead for good going up 46-44. Most added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals to fill up her scoreline. Star Smiley also hit double digits with 10 but Jayda Lewis was brilliant with a double-double. Lewis scored 13 and grabbed 11 rebounds. She also had an assist and 3 steals. For her efforts, Lewis was named our Thorbeckes MVP of the game award.
The Hornets had their chances but just fell short and had their season come to an end with a final 22-5 record. Maggee Schmitz led the Hornets with 23 points and 8 rebounds. She also dished 5 assists had a steal and a blocked shot. Vivian Kingston also with a huge effort with a double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Garfield has now won 4 loser out games in the post season and will take on 4-seed Stanwood Thursday morning at 9am. The Bulldogs improved to 16-9.
Link to full Box score
Link to watch the Game Replay on the NFHS Network
(7) Kennewick 59, (15) Roosevelt 50
The Kennewick Lions came out firing in the 1st half running up a 27-17 lead over the Roughriders of Roosevelt. This included a 12-2 burst to begin the game and Roosevelt could never dig out from that early run.
The Lions were led by Rylee Bendewald with a double-double scoring 12 and hauling in 10 boards split in half with 5 offensive and 5 defensive. June Fiander added 12 points along with 4 boards and 3 steals. But it was Ashlyn Dress who filled up the stat sheet leading the Lions with 15 points and added 6 boards, an assist, 2 blocked shots and a steal.
Kennewick shot 35% from the floor, were 7-15 from the 3-point line at 47% and hit 12 of 14 from the free throw line or 86%.
Roosevelt was led by the 15 points and 7 rebounds by Ellery Burke-Brown. Two others hit double digits with Jasmine Hall scoring 13 and Giselle Dollar with 10. The Roughriders season comes to an end and they finish the year 18-10.
Kennewick improves to 18-7 and will play again at 10:45a tomorrow morning in the quarterfinals against #1 Central Valley.
Link to full Box score
Link to watch the Game Replay on the NFHS Network
(5) Seattle Prep 48, (12) Eastside Catholic 46
The Panthers and Crusaders know each other well and played like it as neither team could ever pull away from the other with 7 lead changes and 3 ties. The Panthers led by 4 at the break and took a 3 point lead into the 4th holding off E-C by 2. The Crusaders actually outscored Sea-Prep in the 1st, 3rd and 4th quarters by 1 point in each quarter. The Panthers took the deciding 8 minutes, the 2nd quarter 13-8.
Seattle Prep was led by EJ Ovena, the only one of 7 players scoring to get in double figures with 12 points. For her offense Ovrena was named our Thorbeckes MVP of the game award winner.
Ovena got help from Grace Renners with 8 points and 10 boards while Kylin Kinchen scored 7 and added 4 steals. The Panthers shot 35% from the floor and were 14-21 from the free throw line.
For Eastside Catholic Sophie Lugoiobi and Amy Nduka each had 17 for 34 of the team’s 46 points. Nduka also grabbed a remarkable 17 rebounds. The Crusaders season is over as they finished with a 16-12 record.
Seattle Prep heads to the quarterfinals and faces Lakeside (Sea) at 2p on Thursday.
Link to full Box score
Link to watch the Game Replay on the NFHS Network
(17) Bellevue 69, (8) Meadowdale 54
The 17 seed Bellevue Wolverines keep stunning their opponents pulling off big loser out wins in the opening round, round of 16 and now their 3rd straight loser out game with a convincing win over Meadowdale.
Bellevue led start to finish jumping out to a 41-27 halftime lead and never looking back. Thje Wolverines were led by Dilynn Johnson who poured in 26 points and pulled down 7 rebounds. Johnson was named our Thorbeckes MVP of the game. Nayvi Robinson scored 15 grabbed 7 boards and added 4 assists and 3 steals. The Wolverines shot 42% from the floor.
The Mavericks got 28 points from Audrey Lucas but it wasn’t enough as the Mavericks had trouble inside getting outrebounded 44-29. Mia Brockmeyer also hit double digits with 11. Meadowdale finished the year with a 17-9 rercord.
Bellevue will move onto the quarterfinals and take another shot at beating a high ranking team when they tip-off against the 2 seeded North Thurston Rams on Thursday at 2pm.
Link to full Box score
Link to watch the Game Replay on the NFHS Network
Feb 28, Mar 1 Regional Round
Winner to Quarterfinals, Loser to Round of 12
(1) Central Valley 78, Meadowdale 64
(2) North Thurston 59, (7) Kennewick 52
(6) Lakeside (Sea) 59, (3) White River 38
(4) Stanwood 54, (5) Seattle Prep 42
Winner to Quarterfinals, Loser Out
(17) Bellevue 61, (9) Ridgeline 55
(15) Roosevelt 67, (10) River Ridge 56
(19) Garfield 50, (11) Mountain View 44
(12) Eastside Catholic 60, (13) Bellarmine Prep 42
Feb, 25 Opening Round (Loser Out)
(17) Bellevue 58, (16) Auburn-Mountainview 26
(15) Roosevelt 67, (18) Decatur 23
(19) Garfield 50, (14) Shorecrest 46
(13) Bellarmine Prep 55, (20) Monroe 42
Last Year’s Trophy Winners
Champions Garfield
2nd Mead
3rd Lakeside (Sea)
4th Snohomish
5th Arlington
6th Everett
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