No. 3 Tahoma makes history, advances past No. 12 Gonzaga Prep in 4A state quarterfinals

With every goal they tick off the list, another pops in to take its place for the Tahoma High School girls basketball team.

On Thursday evening, the Bears checked off a couple more accomplishments to this magical 2022-23 season. No. 3 seed Tahoma beat No. 12 Gonzaga Prep, 51-43, in its first game at the Tacoma Dome since 1999.

In doing so, the Bears (23-3) assured themselves of a game Saturday, which translates into the first trophy in the program’s history.

“It’s great,” senior guard Angie Cavanaugh said. “But we’re not done.”

The next goal now takes the place of those already put in the completed category. With the win, Tahoma will play either Woodinville or Camas in the Class 4A state semifinals at 9 p.m. on Friday.

It’ll be maybe the biggest challenge of the tournament for the Bears, who will face either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed to the 4A field.

“The lower half of the bracket is just loaded,” Tahoma coach Peter Smith said. “Tomorrow is going to be a grind. Either Woodinville or Camas. We’re just happy to be playing in the semis.”

There were moments on Thursday, especially through the first half, when that particular goal didn’t seem assured. While Tahoma took an early lead and developed that into a 13-10 advantage after one quarter, the Bullpups (19-8) came roaring back.

A Gonzaga Prep 7-0 run that began with Lucy Lynn’s jumper with 52 seconds left in the first quarter and ended when Olivia McIntyre made the second of two free throws with 3:50 to go in the first half erased the entirety of an early five-point Tahoma lead and gave the Bullpups a 15-13 advantage.

“They were really well coached and prepared,” Smith said. “But we’re at state, right? Every team is really well coached and prepared. I knew this was going to be a tough one. They took a lot of things away from us tonight. I keep saying, the first one’s always the hardest.”

One of those things taken away, at least early, was Tahoma’s leading scorer — Hope Hassmann. Gonzaga Prep rotated defensive specialists on the Bears’ 20-point scorer, holding her to just six over the first 16 minutes of the game, thanks primarily to the efforts of Rhyan Madden and Julia Few.

With Hassmann struggling to find shots, Cavanaugh and others stepped up.

“At the beginning of the game, I was like, oh, this is different,” Hassmann said. “But then I got on my feet and eventually got my 3-points going. Just getting my teammates going, too. They had great nights. Angie hit some threes tonight. She’s a sharpshooter.”

The senior Cavanaugh actually scored the first five points of the game for Tahoma and finished with nine overall. She scored seven in the first half.

After the break, which saw the teams tied at 22, Hassmann finally broke free a bit. She made a 3-pointer just 11 seconds into the third quarter and followed that up with a driving layup 22 seconds after that to stake the Bears to a 27-22 advantage.

Two Hassmann free throws with 2:27 remaining in the quarter extended the margin to 36-26. That would mark the largest lead of the game for Tahoma, which saw that advantage whittled back to four a couple of times down the stretch — the last at 45-41 on a McIntyre basket with 41 seconds remaining in the game.

But Lily Cavanaugh made a pair of free throws with 37 seconds to go, then Hassmann finished off her game-high 24-point evening by making four more and Tahoma started remaking its goal list.

“That’s a big win for us, because that’s a trophy,” Smith said. “We’re still looking for that gold ball, but that’s the first one in school history, so that’s pretty special.”