Kelsie Johnson had just ripped the ball away from a Boyd Buchanan guard and now had a decision to make. While she could have tried to take it coast to coast herself, Johnson instead made a gorgeous outlet pass to Ryleigh Hoover. Instead of admiring her great pass, she then sprinted the length of the court to catch up to Hoover, who dished it back to Johnson for a snappy two points. Kelsie Johnson led all scorers with 14 points thanks to plays like that, and was named tournament MVP after host Silverdale downed Boyd Buchanan 49-36 in the district final.

“It’s pretty exciting to be honest,” Johnson said about winning tournament MVP. “If I’m open I try to shoot it, but if I see the court and see someone else has a better shot, I’ll pass them the ball.”

“Kelsie has a bright future ahead of her, ”Silverdale coach Vince Underwood said. “We actually pulled her up last year as an eighth grader, and I really appreciate her parents being on board with it. We said we just wanted Kelsie to develop, and playing against older opponents helped her develop the most.”

The Buccaneers and the Seahawks played each other to essentially a draw in the first half. Boyd’s Yani Garner made a pullup midrange shot to start scoring, but Silverdale’s Gracie Renegar came right back and connected on a teardrop from the right baseline. Boyd’s crafty and quick Dani Reeves made a couple of her twisting and turning layups in traffic, and her backcourt partner Jalisa Sanders dimed up Garner on a decisive move to her right for another basket.

But of course, Silverdale stayed right with the Buccaneers, with point guard Tessa Gibson spraying the ball all over the court for assists or near-assists on almost every possession. While she only scored two points off free throws, she completely controlled the action when she had the ball in her hands, dictating tempo as she set up Johnson, her sister Tori Gibson, and the rest of the Seahawks for good looks.

“Tessa is the definition of most valuable player, because she brings the most value to our team,” coach Underwood said of the player who was named the district’s most valuable. “She gets us into our offense and is a vocal leader defensively. She is a coach on the floor, and she’s deserving of the award.”

The Buccaneers held tight for another quarter after that, and both teams exemplified the cliché “leaving it all out on the court.” Silverdale’s Becca Lamb and Boyd’s Riley Robertson both threw themselves into the stands at different times to try to save loose balls, and Boyd’s diminutive Eva Winston had no issues with mixing it up inside against players who were often four or five inches taller than her at minimum.

The Seahawks pulled away in the third quarter and eventually led 38-28 in large part due to some great shotmaking by Johnson and the rest of the lineup. Before she assisted Johnson on the highlight referenced in the opening paragraph, Hoover drilled a three in space, and then hit a drifting midrange shot from the free throw line like she was Michael Jordan against the Cavaliers.

Renegar fed a cutting Johnson on a decisive cut to the basket for a layup, and then Johnson just about sent Silverdale’s student section into delirium when she canned a three from the corner. Boyd went cold for the entire eight minutes, with their scoring woes only solved by an aggressive Reeves, who continued to take the ball to the hoop regardless of who was in the paint.

“We had to work for it tonight, because Boyd did a great job and they fought hard,” coach Underwood said. “Credit to Tracey and them, because they did a good job tonight.”

More often than not, that person in the paint was Becca Lamb, who showed off her diverse skillset throughout the game. Not only did she control the boards, but she often started the Seahawk fastbreak with pinpoint outlet passes that would have made Nikola Jokic proud. On offense, her screens freed up Silverdale’s shooters on pindowns and flares to the perimeter, and Lamb had a few possessions where she would leverage a good screen into great position for a duck-in and score.

“Becca did a great job on the boards tonight, and she’s had a really good second semester for us,” coach Underwood said. “We challenged her over Christmas break to work on things in the gym outside of practice, and she’s really bought into it and it showed tonight.”

While Boyd Buchanan fought until the very end, they just could not match the firepower Silverdale threw at them in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks held on to their double-digit lead and claimed a district championship once the final buzzer sounded.

“We’ve got to win Monday, and if we win Monday then we get another home game after that,” coach Underwood said. “These seniors want to keep playing, and I think they’re going to do whatever they’ve got to do to make that happen. Win or lose, I want to go into battle with this group.”

SUMMARY BOYD BUCHANAN     10   12     6     8  -   36 SILVERDALE               12   14   12     7  -   49   BOYD BUCHANAN (36) - Addie Stone 3, Riley Robertson 3, Eva Winston 8, Jalisa Sanders 2, Hannah Massey 2, Dani Reeves 14, Yani Garner 4. SILVERDALE (49) - Kennedy Stinson 3, Tessa Gibson 2, Becca Lamb 10, Ryleigh Hoover 8, Gracie Renegar 4, Claire Bolton 2, Tori Gibson 6, Kelsie Johnson 14. 3-POINT GOALS: Boyd Buchanan 4 (Stone, Robertson, Winston, Reeves); Silverdale 7 (Hoover 2, Tori Gibson 2, Kelsie Johnson 2, Stinson).   (Contact the author at Joseph.a.dycus@gmail.com)

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