By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
After taking 2nd at the District 1B Tournament, the Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks (19-4) won their opening game in the Tri-District Tournament with a 40-27 win over Mt. Rainier Lutheran. In the 2nd round they journeyed to Port Angeles High School to take on the Neah Bay Red Devils (18-3). Tulalip and Neah Bay were evenly matched on paper. The Lady Hawks came into the game ranked No. 13 in the WIAA’s RPI, while Neah Bay was ranked No. 10.
They were pretty evenly matched on the court, too. In the 1st quarter, both teams were slow to get their offenses going and were notched up at 7-7 after eight minutes of play.
In the 2nd quarter, guards Myrna Redleaf and Keryn Parks got going and put their team ahead. Myrna connected on two 3-pointers and Keyrn hit two jumpers. Thanks to forwards Deandra Grant and Cyena Fryberg the Lady Hawks were winning the rebound battle and not allowing second chance opportunities for the Red Devils. Entering halftime Tulalip led 20-14.
Starting the 2nd half, Keryn found Deandra in the post for an easy bucket that gave them a 22-14 lead. From that point the Red Devils adjusted their game plan and started crashing the boards with extra effort. The Lady Hawks rebounding edge slipped away, and they got outscored 6-11 the rest of the quarter.
Leading 28-25 with only the 4th quarter to play, the Lady Hawks went to their main stays for offense. Keryn hit a base line floater and Deandra powered her way for back-to-back buckets in the post. With 4:43 remaining, leading 34-31, Deandra picked up her 5th foul on a very questionable blocking call. She led the team with 13 points when she fouled out.
Tulalip would struggle to find offense down the stretch without Deandra, while the Red Devils rallied with an 11-4 run of their own. In the super close game free-throws were a determining factor. On the game, Tulalip shot 7-22 from the charity stripe (and 0-5 in the 4th quarter), while the Red Devils shot 13-24 on free-throws (10-17 in the 4th quarter). The Lady Hawks battled valiantly, but just weren’t able to score in the clutch. They lost 38-42.
Keryn wound up leading the team in scoring with 14 points, Deandra had 13 points, and Myrna scored 7 points.
Tulalip bounces back with dominant 62-22 W
The Lady Hawks (19-5) once again traveled to Mt. Vernon Christian, this time to take on the Northwest Yeshiva 613s (15-10) out of Mercer Island. It was a loser-out game in the 3rd round of the Tri-District Tournament.
Tulalip’s offense once again started out slow, but the defense was very active limiting the 613s to only contested jumpers. Forward Deandra Grant anchored the offense in the 1st quarter with 6 of the team’s 8 points.
The same trend continued in the 2nd quarter, with the Lady Hawks leading 8-3, they continued to feed Deandra in the post and she continued to feast. With 3:02 remaining in the 1st half, Tulalip lead extended to 16-6 while Deandra had 12 of those 16 points.
At halftime the girls led 21-11 and had the dictated the game on the both ends thus far.
In the 2nd half, guard Aliya Jones got hot and helped turn the game into a total blowout. Aliya scored 14 points down the stretch, while her team outscored the 613s 41-11 over the 3rd and 4th quarters. Deandra’s 21 points and Aliya’s 20 points led all scorers and were big factors in their team earning a 40 point victory, 62-22.
The win gave the Lady Hawks back-to-back 20 win season, secured them a spot to Regionals and meant they were only one win shy of consecutive trips to State.
Successful season comes to an end for the Lady Hawks
On Saturday, February 25, the Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks (20-5) played a Regional non-conference playoff game versus the Clallam Bay Bruins (15-5) at Jackson High School in Mill Creek. The terms were simple: win and earn your spot in State, or lose and go home.
During practice earlier in the week, center Cyena Fryberg fractured her foot and was relegated to a walking boot, leaving the Lady Hawks shorthanded on bigs.
In the 1st quarter, Tulalip got lots of point blank shot attempts. However, they weren’t converting. They only scored 3 points five minutes into the game, but luckily the Bruins were having their own difficulties scoring as well. The game was tied 3-3 with a little over two minutes to go in the opening quarter. The Lady Hawks failed to rotate on defense to defend the slashing Bruins players and gave up 8 quick points. Two Aliya Jones free-throws and a bucket from Deandra made the game 7-11.
Guard Keryn Parks hit a 3-pointer to open the 2nd quarter and get her team with 1 point, 10-11. Trading baskets the Lady Hawks took their only lead of the game 14-13 midway through the quarter. Unfortunately, turnovers became costly for the Tulalip girls as several bad passes led to easy transition points for the Bruins. The Bruins went on a 16-4 run to close the half, leaving the Lady Hawks trailing 18-29.
In the 2nd half, the Lady Hawks continued to turn the ball over, which ultimately spelled their doom. It’s incredibly difficult to win a game when you have nearly as many turnovers as shot attempts. To their credit, the Lady Hawks did a nice job of forcing a good amount of turnovers, too, except they weren’t turning those turnovers into points like the Bruins were.
Down 28-42 to start the 4th quarter, the Lady Hawks did their best to keep attacking and got the opportunity to shoot lots of free-throws down the stretch. In fact, Tulalip shot 18 free-throws in the game’s final minutes, but only converted 6 of them.
The girls managed to outscore the Bruins 13-10 in the 4th quarter, but it wasn’t enough as they would fall 40-52. The L marked the end of the season for the Lady Hawks. Keryn led all scorers with 15 points, Aliya scored 9 points, and Deandra added 8 points.
All in all, it was a very successful and entertaining season for the Lady Hawks and their fans. There were several riveting games that game down to the final few possessions, key players developed before our eyes, and a lengthy postseason run provided many memories for seniors Aliya, Myrna, and Cyena who are set to graduate this June.