SJE Eagle girls add more state hardware

St. John/Endicott girls hold their fifth place trophy after besting Neah Bay 49-30 Saturday morning. Holding the trophy is Trisha Luft, one of four seniors who played their last game. The other three are pictured to the left, in order, Katie Jensema, Kelsey Simon and Kelli Van Lith.

Hoop careers of four St. John/Endicott girls ended with a fifth place trophy under the lights of Yakima’s SunDome Saturday afternoon.

“What a great bunch of girls,” said Coach Bob Clements. “They always played with a real good chemistry, and I know they had a lot of fun together.”

Seniors Kelsey Simon, Kelli Van Lith, Trisha Luft and Katie Jensema collected three trophies over the span of their high school hoop careers, adding this year’s fifth place finish to a second last year and a fourth place in 2008.

This year’s trophy was clinched with a 49-30 win over Neah Bay Saturday morning.

Kelsey Simon’s shot was working, as the guard knocked down a game-high 16 points. Simon finished just nine points shy of 1,000.

Kelli Van Lith chipped in 12 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots, and Trisha Luft ended with seven points, 10 rebounds and four steals.

Simon Friday poured in 21 points to lead SJE to a 62-38 win over Cusick. The Eagles rolled out a 25-12 second quarter to end the Panthers season.

Point guard Alli Winters added 11 points, nine of which came from behind the arc.

St. John/Endicott advanced to Friday after a 2-0 forfeit Thursday. NW Yeshiva, a private school from Mercer Island observed the Fast of Esther, a traditional Jewish holiday, by fasting until sundown. Fearing their girls would be dehydrated playing an intense state tournament game at the 12:30 start time, NW asked tournament officials to reschedule the game for after sunset.

WIAA officials declined. Yeshiva suited up, as did the Eagles, lined up on the court and officially forfeited.

Coach Clements said he would have liked his girls to get in the game, but understood the Yeshiva’s need to observe their religious tradition.

Eagles were booked into the early Thursday consolation game after falling 64-48 to Almira/Coulee/Hartline in Wednesday’s opener. The game was much closer than the score indicated. The Eagles knotted the score late in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors pulled away, and hit 25-34 free throws.

SJE cashed just 12 of 21 toss shots.

Winters had 12 points to top the Eagles. Kelli Van Lith clicked in a double with 11 points and 11 boards, and Trisha Luft grabbed 17 rebounds.

SATURDAY

St. John Endicott 49- Neah Bay 30: 17/10 17/6 11/8 4/6: Kelsey Simon 6 4-7 16, Kelli Van Lith 3 6-9 12, Alli Winters 3 2-3, 8, Trisha Luft 2 3-3 7, Katie Jensema 1 2-2 4, Erin Schuster 1 0-0 2. Neah Bay: Erica Fonzi 2 (2-3pt) 6, Rebecca Thompson 2 1-2 5, Cherish Moss 1 3-4 5, Ardis Pullen 2 0-0 4, Stephanie Greene 1 2-2 4, Alisha Kallappa 1 0-0 2, Synon Allen 1 0-0 2, Courtney Winck 1 0-3 2.

FRIDAY

St. John/Endicott 62- Cusick 38: 14/10 25/12 14/7 9/9: Simon 9 (2-3pt) 1-2 21, Winters 4 (3-3pt) 0-2 11, G. Van Lith 2 2-2 6, K. Van Lith 1 4-6 6, Luft 3 0-0 6, Jensema 2 1-2 5, Newton 1 2-2 4, E. Schuster 1 0-0 2, Emily Kucklick 0 1-2 1. Cusick :Heinen 3 6-14 12, J. Adams 2 4-6 8, Treischel 2 4-6 8, H. Adams 2 2-2 6, Montgomery 2 0-0 4.

THURSDAY

St. John/Endicott 2- NE Yeshiva 0: (forfeit).

WEDNESDAY

Almira/Coulee/Hartline 64- St. John/Endicott 48: 10/5 8/12 15/11 31/20: Gloyn 5 (2-3pt.) 4-6 16, Isaak 3 9-10 15, Osborne 1 11-13 13, Martin 4 1-3 9, Ashley 1 (3pt.) 0-0 3, Noggles 2 0-2 2, Erickson 1 0-0 2. SJE: Winters 4 4-5 12, K. Van Lith 5 1-3 11, G. Van Lith 3 3-4 9. Simon 3 0-1 6, E. Schuster 2 0-0 4, Luft 0 3-6 3, Jensema 1 0-0 2, Kucklick 0 1-2 1.