THE DALLES — The Dalles High School’s girls basketball team beat host Estacada, 49-38, on Feb. 24, and lost to Molalla at home, 37-36, on Feb. 27 to finish out the 2025-26 season.
The Riverhawks finished the 2025-26 season third overall in the OSAA Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference, just shy of a postseason opportunity. The top two teams in the Tri-Valley — Molalla and Madras — earned automatic berths into the 16-team state playoffs.
The Riverhawks (11-13, 5-3) had a strong showing against the Estacada (11-13, 2-6) behind sophomore guard Bryce Newby. She had a stellar game on all fronts, finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Junior Evelyn Rogers added nine points and seven rebounds, while senior Hailey Johnston had seven points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Freshman Anuhea Peters had a strong showing on the defensive end. Peters constantly switched her defensive assignment, covering Estacada’s point guard. When she subbed out, Peters would switch to playing defense in the post.
Three days later, The Dalles community honored lone senior Hailey Johnston before the game against the Molalla Indians (14-9, 7-1). The Riverhawks and Indians went back and forth throughout, with a 9-9 tie at the end of the first quarter, and an 18-14 Riverhawk lead at halftime.
The Indians battled back in the second half, leading 27-23 at the end of the third quarter. The game came down to the final seconds, as The Dalles had the ball and was down one (37-36) with 36 seconds left.
Peters shot with 25 seconds left but was unable to get it to go. Molalla got the rebound and drained the rest of the clock.
On her senior night, Johnston finished with nine points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks. Rogers nearly had her third double-double of the season as she finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, an assist and five steals. Newby had some crucial passes throughout, finishing with four assists, routinely finding Rogers in the paint.
Peters had another great game at the defensive end, with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Peters, a five-foot-four-inch point guard, primarily defended Molalla’s six-foot posts to help Rogers down low.
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