Hawkins leads South at Big Bend All-Star Classic
Neil Pierson/Columbia Basin HeraldEphrata's BreAnne Duff (24) fights off a screen from Warden's Brandi Kisler and tries to stick with Connell's Kortneigh Eppich during second-half action of the first annual Big Bend All-Star Classic on Wednesday night.
South 53, North 44
MOSES LAKE - The Columbia Basin area girls basketball season officially came to a close Wednesday night with a unique event - the first annual Big Bend Community College All-Star Classic.
The game, organized by Big Bend women's head coach Preston Wilks as a way to recognize some of the area's top senior players, ended with a 53-44 victory for the South All-Stars over their counterparts from the North.
Along with players from Moses Lake, Quincy, Soap Lake, Ephrata and Warden, Wilks invited some standouts from just outside the region. One of those players, Connell's Julie Hawkins, was named the Most Valuable Player for the South after collecting 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Brook Ferderer, a Bi-County League first-team standout, was the North's MVP, recording 14 points and six rebounds.
The contest was close throughout, and the South grabbed the biggest lead of the night at nine points after Hawkins scored on a pair of 3-point plays midway through the third quarter.
The North came storming back, scoring 11 straight points to close the third. Ephrata guard BreAnne Duff nailed a 3-pointer that knotted the score, and Moses Lake forward Ann Noyes scored on a putback to put the North in front by two.
The game was tied, 43-43, with just over three minutes to play when Hawkins and Connell teammate Kortneigh Eppich took over. Eppich, a 5-foot-9 forward, scored on a 17-foot baseline jumper to put the South in front for good, then swished a 15-footer from the free-throw line on the next series.
Hawkins scored off a rebound in the final minute, and Lacrosse-Washtucna's Karla Koller - a three-time All-Whitman County League performer - cemented the win with a breakaway layup shortly thereafter.
The lead seesawed back and forth during the first period. Touchet's Megan Howerton, who led her squad to a third-place finish at the 1B state tournament, led the South with a pair of early baskets, while Ferderer did the same for the North.
The South players seemed a bit quicker up and down the floor throughout the night, and took advantage of a cold-shooting South squad to lead 26-21 at halftime. Howerton drained a trey for the lead, then found Lacey Nordby of West Valley-Spokane on a fast-break layup to close the half.
Both teams' entire rosters participated in a halftime 3-point contest. The players each had 75 seconds to shoot 25 balls from five points on the floor, with each shot counting for three points and the final "money ball" shot at each point counting for five.
Howerton led the South players with 40 points, while Moses Lake's Vanessa Brischle scored 57 points to beat out Cheney's Kyle Miller (40) for the North lead.
Brischle then defeated Howerton in a head-to-head final, 52-43. Both finalists hit all five money balls.
In addition to the MVP awards, a pair of "Miss Hustle" awards were given to West Valley's Nordby and Cheney's Miller.