District 6 roundup: Short-handed Ridgeline girls reach state; Mead, Central Valley triumphant heading into state
Ridgeline junior Madilyn Crowley maneuvers past a Hermiston defender in the District 6 3A third-place game on Feb. 22, 2025. Ridgeline won 61-47 to advance to state. (Cheryl Nichols)
No coach wants to make excuses this time of the season. But when a team is missing its all-league point guard in a winner-to-state, loser-out game, it can mean the difference of moving on or suffering a disappointing season-ending loss.
Especially if the team resided in the top 10 in state all season.
So, you play defense – and get scoring from an unlikely source.
All-league junior post Madi Crowley scored 23 points with eight assists, Cayce Paske scored a career-high 17 points and fourth-seeded Ridgeline eliminated visiting, fifth-seeded Hermiston (Oregon) 61-47 in a District 6 3A winner-to-state game on Saturday.
Greater Spokane League leading scorer Emma Myers missed her second consecutive game with an illness.
“We knew with Emma out we had to step up,” Paske said. “I feel like all of us put our best foot forward.”
“Cayce came up huge,” said Ridgeline coach Freddie Rehkow, who earned career win No. 300 in the process. “I mean, just her energy and the way she fought. She was in the right positions on defense and offensively, was just real smart tonight.”
Many of Paske’s points came off assists from Crowley, a 6-foot post who was pressed into point guard duties for a while with Myers out.
“We had 11 turnovers in the first half,” Rehkow said. “When we have that many, we just had to slow it down. By putting (Crowley) there, it kind of took some of the pressure off of the guards. With (Myers) and (sophomore all-league guard) Grace (Sheridan) out, someone had to step up, and Madi did that for us.”
The Falcons trailed by three after the first quarter but found their footing, at least on defense, in the second quarter. They limited Hermiston to two points in the quarter and led 24-14 at halftime. Paske led all scorers with eight points – all in the paint and most off feeds from Crowley.
“We threw junk defenses at them today,” Rehkow said. “I mean, we just put it in yesterday, just to try it. … They went out and did a good job with it. To hold them to 14 in the half was pretty good.”
Ridgeline finally found its offense in the third quarter. Crowley scored nine, Paske added seven and the Falcons led 45-27 entering the fourth quarter. Crowley had eight points down the stretch to seal it.
Win No. 300 will be memorable for Rehkow.
“That might have been one of the hardest ones,” he said. “Just because there was so much pressure. This team belongs at state, and I knew they were going to step up for their teammates.”
Girls 4A
Mead 58, Kamiakin 53: Addison Wells Morrison scored a career-high 29 points, and the top-seeded Panthers (16-7) eliminated the visiting fourth-seeded Braves (19-6) in the district second-place game to earn a trip to state.
Wells Morrison had three 3-pointers and went 10 of 13 at the line.
3A
Central Valley 58, Kennewick 47: Brynn McGaughy scored 22 points, Eden Sander added 13 and the visiting second-seeded Bears (22-0) beat the top-seeded Lions (18-5) in the District 6 3A championship game.
Both teams advance to state.
2A
Deer Park 76, Selah 26: Ashlan Bryant scored 27 points, Jacey Boesel had 23 points with 14 rebounds and the host Stags (23-0) eliminated the Vikings (17-9) in a District 5/6 crossover to earn a bid to state.
Prosser 68, Clarkston 43: Elle Wright scored 23 points. and the Mustangs (21-4) eliminated the visiting Bantams (18-5) in a District 5/6 crossover. Reese de Groot led Clarkston with 13 points.
1A
Lakeside 56, Cascade (Leavenworth) 48: Jillian Owen scored 18 points, and the Eagles (13-9) eliminated the visiting Kodiaks (17-11) in a District 5/6 crossover to earn a bid to state. Teyva Dillon led Cascade with 18 points.
2B
Reardan 46, Northwest Christian 38: Chasyn Waters scored 18 points, and the top-seeded Screaming Eagles (21-2) beat the second-seeded Crusaders (19-4) in the district championship at West Valley.
Julianna Pope and Mackenzie Price led NWC with 10 points apiece. Both teams qualified for state.
Liberty 53, Colfax 42: Tyla Tiegs scored 20 points and the third-seeded Lancers (18-7) defeated the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (12-13) in the district third-place game. Brianna Gilchrist led Colfax with 10 points. Both teams made state.