The Dalles High Riverhawks concluded the regular season by winning their final Tri-Valley Conference game and earning an OSAA Class 4A girls basketball play-in round postseason berth. The Riverhawks’ season ended five days later at Junction City.
The No. 14 ranked Riverhawks (4-6 TVC, 10-11 overall), guided by second-year Coach Darcey Hodges, won 44-43 over the No. 13 ranked Molalla High Indians (4-6 TVC, 12-9 overall) Feb. 21 on Senior Night at The Dalles High School’s Kurtz Gym. “That was a fun game and the girls played well and worked hard together,” said Hodges of the regular-season finale. “It was kind of an exciting way to end the regular season.”
In an exciting seesaw battle with seven ties and 11 lead changes, the game was knotted 14-14 at the end of the first quarter. The two evenly matched squads continued trading baskets in a low-scoring second quarter and the Riverhawks led 20-19 at halftime.
Led by sophomore Sydney Newby (19 points), The Dalles outscored Molalla 13-9 to take a 33-28 lead after three quarters. Molalla had a 10-5 rally to knot it 38-38 midway through the fourth quarter. The Indians came back and went up for their final lead of the game at 41-40.
Newby then scored on a jumper in the lane, putting The Dalles up for good at 42-41 with 2:13 left in the contest. Following a missed shot by the Indians on their ensuing offensive possession, senior guard Natash Muzechenko (five points) sank the game-winning basket on an eight-foot baseline jumper, putting the Riverhawks ahead 44-41 with 1:35 left.
A Molalla free throw trimmed the margin to 44-42 with 53.5 second left. Following a Riverhawk turnover with 17 seconds left, the Indians gained possession for a possible chance to tie or win the game. A Riverhawks’ foul with 2.4 seconds left provided the Indians with a chance as senior Amy Wills went to the line. Wills sank the first, then missed the second and Riverhawk junior Jeliane Stewart grabbed the rebound to help preserve the win for The Dalles.
Prior to the contest, the Riverhawks’ senior trio of Muzechenko, Lily Schatz and Veronica Robledo were honored for their contributions to The Dalles High basketball program in a ceremony, while accompanied by their parents in a festive Senior Night celebration at midcourt.
The victory over Molalla lifted The Dalles into a tie for fourth place in the league standings and earned them a spot in the 16-team play-in round. The Riverhawks lost to No. 18-ranked Junction City High Tigers (11-13), 63-38.
“It was a long trip and Sydney had been sick for three days before the game and so she definitely wasn’t able to have the usual strong performance that she normally does,” said Hodges. “She didn’t have much energy to play well on the court against Junction City.”
Zoe LeBreton led the Riverhawks in scoring with 21 points. The contest marked the final game of the The Dalles High School basketball careers of Schatz, Robledo, and Muzechenko.
“Zoe definitely stepped up and she hit some really big shots and she played very well,” said Hodges. “It was exciting to watch the girls grow as a team and develop and keep challenging and pushing themselves to help our program kind of turn the corner a little bit. I’m absolutely proud of all of them for what they accomplished this year. The seniors were a fun, hard-working group and we’re definitely going to miss them next year.”
The Dalles had three players that were selected to the TVC All Conference Team in a vote by league coaches Feb. 26. LeBreton earned an all-conference second team award, Newby was selected for an all-conference first team award and Hoylman earned a TVC all-conference honorable mention award.
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