New Tahoma Bears girls basketball crew, same winning style
MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. - Tahoma High School had a historically-good girls basketball season last winter, advancing all the way to the WIAA Class 4A semifinals in the Tacoma Dome.
So, for new coach Julie Anderson, what was the next step in retooling it for the upcoming season?
Change everything.
And yet, there is some of that same, aggressive energy with this new Bears bunch, which handled Class 1A powerhouse Lynden Christian, 44-34, at the Sefnco Showcase on Saturday night at Tahoma High School.
Eleven players scored for Tahoma, led by Kate Wooten's 10 points. Brooke Deyak added eight points as the Bears closed on a 9-0 run over the final 2:41 of the third quarter to grab a 38-22 lead.
"We are rewinding to move forward," said Anderson, who only had three leftover regulars from last year's final-four squad in Wooten, Deyak and returning top scorer Lily Cavanaugh.
"These girls, they want to win - and they want to learn."
Obvious differences from this season from 2022-23:
* After primarily playing zone defense, the Bears will get after teams this winter in man-to-man pressure.
* After all-state point guard Hope Hassmann graduated, Tahoma is asking Deyak and Cavanaugh - one of the team's deadly 3-point shooters a year ago - to share the ball-handling workload.
* And speaking of 3-pointers, Tahoma shot a lot of them last season. The team will be scaling that back in 2023-24.
"It is really different - but I feel it's different in a good way," Cavanaugh said. "Each game is a new learning experience for us."
After the Lyncs cut it to 29-22, Deyak triggered the key half-ending scoring spurt with her inside bucket , then feeding Adalynn Busch a couple possessions later.
Sara VanLoo sank a deep top-of-arc 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to end the run with 12 seconds to go.
The new energy brings a smile to Cavanaugh's face.
"I missed (last year's seniors) a ton, but it’s great to play with a new squad," she said.
As far as Lynden Christian, which saw its two-year state championship run end last season in the finals against Nooksack Valley - this team is also young, and trying to find its footing without Grace Hintz (knee), who might return later this winter.
"We still have to improve in some areas," Lynden Christian coach Brady Bomber said.
