Lewis and Clark girls win 1st state title

The biggest game of the season brought out the best in Katelan Redmon.

Redmon scored a season-high 22 points when her Lewis and Clark team needed them most, in the championship game of the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome. She was the difference as the fourth-ranked Tigers from Spokane thumped No. 3 Prairie of Brush Prairie, 66-44, to capture their first title.

"I just felt it," said Redmond, who scored 17 points in the first half, making all eight of her field-goal tries. "It's the championship game. You've got to play your best, that's all I can say."

Redmon, a 6-foot junior guard who is the niece of coach Jim Redmon, had been satisfied playing a supporting role as Lewis and Clark made its way to the championship game, scoring just 15 points over the first three tournament games. But when the Tigers took center stage for the final, she showed her star power.

Jim Redmon wasn't surprised.

"She's had those capabilities all season," he said. "I don't know what she ate, but we're going to feed it to her next year. Man, she carried us."

Prairie coach Al Aldridge wasn't caught off guard either.

"It was just waiting to happen," he said.

Three-pointers


Three things you "shoulda" seen:

Block party: Shauniece Samms of Mount Tahoma tied a tournament record with eight blocks against Meadowdale. That gave her a tournament-record 21.

Three-for-all: Woodinville's Amanda Best was tied for the tournament-record with 12 overall three-pointers until University's Kara Crisp sank one, her 13th, in the next game.

Foul shots: Katelan Redmon, niece of Lewis and Clark coach Jim Redmon, scored 11 points during a 3:15 span of the second quarter. She ended with 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting, with four assists. "We haven't seen that out of her," Uncle Jim said.

Glenn Nelson

Aldridge had even warned his players about Redmon, who transferred this season from Mount Spokane.

"Our coach told us she would be the X-factor, and she was," senior forward Amy Donovan said.

Heather Bowman, a 6-2 senior headed to Gonzaga, added 16 points for the Tigers (26-4) and was voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

"I couldn't end my senior season on a better note or with a better group of girls," she said.

Lyndi Seidensticker added 10 points and three steals.

Katie Madison, who has signed with Idaho, led Prairie with 11 points and six rebounds despite picking up two early fouls. Ashley Corral and Merritt Cameron both had 10. Corral joined Bowman on the all-tournament first team along with Angie Bjorklund of University, Courtney Vandersloot of Kentwood and Kristi Kingma of Jackson.

Prairie (26-3) was trying to become the first 4A or 3A girls team to win six state titles. The Falcons captured 4A crowns in 2003, 1999, 1998 and 1994, with second-place finishes in 2000 and 2002. They also won the 3A tournament in 1993 and were runners-up in 1985 and 1982. In all, they have qualified for state in 23 of Aldridge's 26 seasons as head coach, a record for any 3A or 4A girls program. This is their 20th trophy and ninth consecutive top-four finish.

But this night belonged to Lewis and Clark.

The Tigers led 20-13 at the end of the first quarter, and Redmon was just warming up. In the first 3:15 of the second quarter, she scored 10 of her team's 12 points. When Bowman buried a jumper at the midway point of the quarter, L-C was up 35-17. Redmon matched Prairie's output with 17 points to that point.

"I knew it from there, we had it, it was ours," Redmon said. "Nothing was going to stop us after that. It was our game."

L-C took a 40-21 advantage into the second half, shooting 60.7 percent from the field. The Tigers were up by 22 midway through the third, and the Falcons never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.

Prairie had averaged 65 points in its three earlier tournament games.

"Lewis and Clark put a lot of pressure on us and did a great job defensively," Aldridge said.

Finally, that elusive state title was in Lewis and Clark's hands.

The previous three years here, the Tigers had run into the wrong team at the wrong time. Last year, they lost in the semifinals to Garfield. In 2004, they fell in the quarterfinals to Roosevelt. The year before that, L-C lost in the first round to none other than Prairie. In all three cases, those teams went on to win championships.

In their only other appearance in the title game, back in 1988, the Tigers lost 62-58 to Shadle Park, another Spokane school.

Both teams had tough roads to the final in what many believe was one of the deepest tournaments in recent history. Prairie opened with a win over an underrated Jackson squad, then beat No. 4 Woodinville and No. 2 University of Spokane. Lewis and Clark went through Gig Harbor, No. 1 Lincoln and No. 10 Auburn Riverside.

LEWIS AND CLARK — Katelan Redmon 10-12 2-3 22, Heather Redmon 6-11 3-4 16, Lyndi Seidensticker 4-13 0-0 10, Ren Mallory 2-3 0-1 5, Hannah Rothstrom 2-5 0-0 4, Jade Peone 1-3 0-0 3, Ula Taula 1-1 0-0 2, Brittany Kennedy 1-3 0-2 2, Cambrie Marks 1-1 0-0 2, Morgan Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsey Baker 0-0 0-0 0, Laree Weaver 0-0 0-0 . Totals 28-52 5-10 66.

PRAIRIE — Katie Madison 5-9 1-1 11, Ashley Corral 3-9 4-6 10, Merritt Cameron 2-5 4-6 10, Amy Donovan 2-5 0-0 5, Chelsea Porter 1-2 2-2 4, Jamey Gelhar 1-4 1-2 3, Samantha Rigan 0-0 1-2 1, Emily Lashua 0-0 0-0 0, Mandy McFadden 0-0 0-0 0, Katelyn Scobba 0-1 0-0 0, Rachel Bristow 0-1 0-0 0, Lindsay Aho 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 14-38 15-19 44.

Three-point shooting — Lewis and Clark 5-10 (Seidensticker 2-6, Mallory 1-1, Bowman 1-1, Peone 1-2); Prairie 1-11 (Donovan 1-2, Madison 0-1, Bristow 0-1, Porter 0-1, Gelhar 0-2, Corral 0-4). Rebounds — Lewis and Clark 30 (Redmon 5, Bowman 5); Prairie 24 (Madison 6). Assists — Lewis and Clark 13 (Redmon 4); Prairie 5 (Donovan 2). Steals — Lewis and Clark 11 (Kennedy 3); Prairie 12 (Corral). Blocked shots — Lewis and Clark 2 (Redmon, Bowman); Prairie 4 (Donovan 3). Turnovers — Lewis and Clark 15; Prairie 22. Total fouls — Lewis & Clark 20; Prairie 14. Fouled out — None.