For the second time in four years, the Lyle Cougars are Yakima Valley District 5 Class B girls basketball champions.
More important: With the title comes a berth to the state tournament next week in Spokane.
The Cougars -- who have won 10 in a row -- warm up for state tournament play this Saturday with a Central Washington Regional Tournament clash against the third-rated Kittitas Coyotes (23-0).
"That's going to be a great tune-up game for state," Cougars Coach Verlyn Smith said of the Lyle-Kittitas matchup.
Smith said the Coyotes have great team speed, which they use to pressure opponents from start to finish.
"If you can't get the ball past half-court against them, it makes for a long night," he noted. "But I think Kittitas is a beatable team if you can control the tempo. So we're going to focus and work really hard (in practice this week) on breaking the press and running a deliberate offense."
Lyle (20-2) defeated seventh-ranked Riverside Christian, 46-44, last Saturday in the District 5 title game at Sunnyside High School.
The Cougars, who had lost three straight to Riverside, erased a two-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Crusaders 24-20 in the second half of a game that went down to the wire.
Sophomore Tara Rappe made 1-of-2 free throws with six seconds remaining to put Lyle on top, 46-44.
Riverside had the last possession and made its final shot, but, after conferring on the sideline, officials Tom Peachy and Moses Garcia ruled it went in after the buzzer.
"I thought the officials handled that last call really well," Smith said. "They took their time and asked for help to make sure they got it right."
Greater Columbia B League player of the year Lindsey Blaine scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead Lyle to victory.
The 5-foot-11 senior tallied eight points and netted two of her game-best three 3-pointers in the third quarter to spark the Cougars' second-half comeback.
Blaine played with four fouls and added six points in the fourth quarter to help Lyle secure the win.
The Cougars started slowly and trailed 10-5 after one quarter of action.
But they picked up the pace in the second quarter and closed to within 24-22 at the half on senior Sarah Billette's first of two 3-point baskets.
Blaine, who managed one point in the opening period, scored nine of her team's 17 points in the second, including a 3-pointer that cut Riverside's lead to 10-8 in the early going.
The three-ball also figured prominently in Lyle's third-quarter turnaround.
After Blaine tied the game at 24, Billette nailed a 3-pointer to give Lyle a 27-24 lead. Riverside's Jessica De Bord countered with a trey of her own that knotted the score at 27.
Lyle then pulled ahead, 32-27, as junior Dawn Ullom and Blaine combined for five straight points.
Riverside got within 32-30 on a three-point play by Sharelle Wells, but Blaine connected again from beyond the arc to put the Cougars ahead, 35-30. Lyle never trailed thereafter.
However, the Cougars had to protect the lead against the defensively aggressive Crusaders, who began the fourth quarter with just two team fouls.
"That was our immediate scare because they had fouls to give and we had to inbounds the ball five times before we got into the (one-and-one free throw) bonus," Smith said.
He added that either team could have put the game away earlier had it made its foul shots.
Lyle went 5 for 12 from the stripe on the night, while Riverside converted 4 of 15 overall, and only 1 of 8 in the final frame.
LaSalle 59, Klickitat 48 --
The Vandals lost the District 5 consolation prize to the Lightning last Saturday, but remained in contention for a berth to state.
Klickitat, loser of two in a row, must win two straight this weekend to earn a Central Washington regional berth to state.
The Vandals (13-9) play the Waterville Shockers (17-7) at 6:30 p.m. this Friday in the third game of a four-game, loser-out set at Ellensburg High School.
A victory on Friday would pit Klickitat against District 5 runnerup Riverside Christian (19-3) on Saturday in a winner-to-state contest that tips off at approximately 2:30 p.m., at EHS.
Riverside handed Klickitat a 62-48 defeat last Friday in the district semifinal round.
Senior Jaecee Ramsay scored a team-high 16 points in the consolation final. Classmates Jordan Graeme and Naomi Vitale added 12 and 11 respectively.
Lyle 55, LaSalle 44 --
Senior Lindsey Blaine and junior Dawn Ullom combined for 48 points last Friday as the Cougars advanced to their fourth district championship game in the past five years.
Blaine had the hot hand for Lyle, sinking three 3-pointers and 11-of-12 free throws on her way to a game-high 34 points. She also collected 13 rebounds and three steals.
Ullom finished with a post-season career high 14 points, including six big ones in the second quarter that helped the Cougars maintain their four-point, first-quarter lead at halftime.
Lyle stretched its lead to 13 -- 41-28 -- in the third quarter as Blaine, shut out in the second after scoring 11 in the first, hit a pair of 3-pointers en route to 12 points.
In the fourth quarter, Blaine tallied 11 points. Five of those came at the foul line, where she scored a perfect mark in the final eight minutes.
Riverside Christian 62, Klickitat 48 --
The Crusaders rode a strong start to victory in their semifinal matchup with the Vandals last Friday in Sunnyside.
Riverside outscored Klickitat 18-6 in the first quarter en route to a 31-19 halftime lead.
Senior Jaecee Ramsay's 10 points and junior Kaeley Schultz's nine led the Vandals, who got only nine points out of senior post players Naomi Vitale (8) and Jordan Graeme (1).
Riverside had four players in double figures, led by Erin Shively, who topped all scorers with 19 points.
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