SCAC West Coach of the Year Mindi Winters talks with her team during a time out. Photo courtesy of vanclubphotography.com
We sometimes sum up a sports season by the end result. For the Lady Leopards season summing it up with 3 consecutive losses, including two sub-par performances in the state tournament that saw an offensive output of 28 points in each game would be unfair. Not only unfair, but it would not give credit where credit is due. This young team was for the most part over achievers!
Mindi Winters team returned only a handful of players with any varsity experience. Only a few of them had significant playing time at the varsity level. To label the 2009-10 season as a rebuilding year and accepting mediocrity would have been acceptable to most programs, but not this one. When on the opening night of the season the Lady Leopards only scored 20 points against Wapato, most thought this is what was facing a team loaded with underclassmen.
It was like a roller coaster for the first 10 games of the season. At times this team looked as if they were going to break out, winning four straight after that opening night disappoinment. But then came reality of youth, five consecutive losses, including two of their first three league contests. Losses in the SunDome Shootout to lowly Newport and then another 20 point performance against Lakeside left coaches and fans scratching their heads about this teams future.
The night it turned around was a night that the odds seemed stacked against the Zillah girls. Goldendale was off to a fantastic start, sitting atop the SCAC West with Granger at 4-0 in league. Another loss for the 2-2 Leopards that night would mean a fight for survival into postseason, they had already suffered home losses to contenders Mabton and Naches Valley. Traveling to Goldendale, where for the past two seasons they had struggled for success- escaping with wins in the past, but they never came easy. On this night though a Lady Leopards team arrived! Aided by a barrage of long bombs that found the basket and holding Goldendale to a single point in the opening quarter, Zillah raced to a 33-21 halftime lead. It wasn’t the fact that their shots were falling that was impressive that night, it was the team work and savvy that the girls showed. When the defense extended out to stop the outside game the ball unselfishly went inside and when things got crowded in the middle, there was someone open on the perimeter for a good shot. Their 65-40 drubbing of the Timberwolves in their own gym, left Zillah with not only hope in the standings, but a new found success on the hardwood.
Yes they were embarassed at Granger, taking a 23 point loss, but for the next five games no one came within 12 points of this team. Three of the games in that stretch were played on the road, avenging their earlier home losses. Suddenly this team was on fire! The next time the rival Spartans appeared on their schedule, they were carrying a #1 ranking and a record of 18-0. The Lady Leopards were already assured of the #2 seed in districts, so they didn’t need a win in their season finale. But what an exciting conclusion to the regular season it was for this team that was once 4-6, to earn a 44-38 victory over the state’s top ranked team.
The roll would continue into district play, a drubbing of River View and an 11 point win over Columbia-Burbank propelled Zillah into the State Tournament and to a third match up with Granger in the District Championship game. This see-saw battle saw the Spartans win by a single point, but the Lady Leopards made Granger play their absolute best to win.
Then came the luck of the draw, or lack of luck as it were. There were a few teams that you wanted to avoid in the first round of the state tournament and one of them was Freeman. The Scotties have been extremely successful in state tournament play, and were boasting a 22-1 record heading into this years tourney.
You can speculate that it was a case of nerves or perhaps the venue, but in all honesty this was a powerful Freeman team they were facing in the first round. After a small run to end the first half, it looked as if the Lady Leopards would get back into a game they had once trailed by 13, narrowing the Freeman lead to 24-16 by the break. But as the 3rd quarter commenced Freeeman’s explosive shooting began seperating them from the Lady Leopards on the scoreboard. The Lady Scotties shot an incredible 77.8% in the second half. Freeman outscored Zillah 20-5 in the third quarter to leave no question as to who would advance to quarterfinals. The Lady Leopards handled the full court pressure well, but Freeman’s half court defense really took its toll on this young Zillah team. Freeman earned their 57-28 victory over Zillah.
Things began promising for these Lady Leopards the next day. Midway through the opening quarter Alissi Uasike hit a 3-pointer to give Zillah a 9-0 lead and force Nooksack Valley to call a time out. Then came a seven minute drought for Zillah that saw things take a complete one-eighty and 15 unanswered points. Things weren’t out of hand by half time, but when another seven minute drought occured to start the second half, a 5 point lead was extended to 12 by the start of the fourth quarter. Hampered by shots that appeared to be in, but bounced out and officating that seemed to be in favor of their opponents, these Lady Leopards season ended with a disappointing 42-28 loss.
The 2009-10 season for the Zillah girls was full of “not supposed to’s”. They were not supposed to finish second in their league…and they did! They were not supposed to knock off top-ranked Granger…and they did! They were not supposed to make it to state…and they did! They were not supposed to play with Granger in the District Championship game…and they did! And after winning the hearts and confidence of area fans- they were not supposed to go two and out in the State Tournament….and they did.
