Auburn girls hoops handles the Sentinels

Published 3:35 pm Friday, February 13, 2026

When it comes to the playoffs, Auburn High School girls basketball head coach Jessica Hansen will take a win any way she can. Against Spanaway Lake, it wasn’t pretty, but the Auburn Trojans survived 49-38 on Feb. 12 to advance to the second round of the West Central District tournament.

Auburn would have liked to cruise to a win over the No. 13 Sentinels, but that outcome was never in the cards for the Trojans as despite their No. 3 seed, Spanaway Lake was not going to roll over.

“The good news is with everything you can look at what you need to get better at. We knew a key to the game was rebounds and boxing out. We got killed on rebounds. Rebounding is a ‘want to.’ There is a little technique involved, but mostly it’s see ball, get ball. Our girls saw ball and watched ball, their team hustled. Give a lot of credit to them,” Coach Hansen said.

In the first quarter, Auburn took a 10 point lead on a 3-point shot from Kamryn Huttenlocker in the final minute of the quarter, their largest in the game up to that point. Auburn struggled to find their groove offensively in the first half as a whole, but the defense was able to keep the Sentinels in check as Spanaway Lake was held to four points in the first quarter and 10 in the second.

Avery Hansen finished with a team-leading 17 points, and her ability to get to the free throw line was Auburn’s lifeline in the second quarter. As a team, Auburn scored 12 points in the second, and eight of those points came from the free throw line. Hansen took six free throws, making four of them.

The third quarter was the slowest quarter for Auburn, apart from Hansen making a lay-up on the Trojans’ first two possessions, her second coming at the 7:14 mark. Auburn then went over five minutes without scoring. Over that time frame, Spanaway cut the 16-point lead to nine, before Ari Deloney got going.

“I felt like I had to take over and help the team. Last year I was a main leader. Coming off the injury, I felt like I had to get my old self back,” Deloney said.

Deloney suffered a knee injury back in June and has been on the long road back to play ever since. She returned to play just eight months removed from the injury, and now has been working to get back to basketball speed for about a month.

“It was very hard, I didn’t have much confidence. But as I went on and played more games, it boosted my confidence. It showed that I can do more,” Deloney said.

When at her best, she has just as much influence on opponents’ defenses as Hansen. Delony gave her teammates and coaches a taste of what she can offer, hitting a behind the back dribble spinning lay-up as time was winding down.

“I don’t think we would have been league champs without her. She’s had stretches like that in a couple of our big games against Kentridge and Tahoma,” Hansen said.

That started a 6-0 run from Deloney on her own, and for a team that needed a life source as Spanaway Lake was surging, Deloney was that player.

Hansen gave her a speech comparing Deloney to Simba from “The Lion King” and in this fairy tale, Hansen was Mufasa telling Deloney to remember who she is.

“I told her ‘remember who you are.’ She’s taken a while to trust herself and trust her knee. It’s fun to see her making some big plays,” Hansen said. “I didn’t think we’d get her back this year. To have her right now is huge.”

As time continued to wind down in the fourth quarter, Spanaway Lake was dialing up the pressure. With 4:24 left in the game, the Sentinels cut the Auburn lead to just 8 with the score 38-30. Spanaway Lake brought some physicality and out-rebounded Auburn to get back in the game, especially in the second half.

Hansen felt that the game had gotten out of hand from the officials, on both sides of the floor.

“We knew they were going to come at us, trying to get steals. I have a lot to say abut the officiating, but I will hold my tongue. But the way the game was officiated didn’t help us either. Especially down the stretch, they were bringing doubles and cracking us,” Coach Hansen said.

The two sides traded blows, but Auburn kept a double-digit buffer between them and the Sentinels before, in the span of two minutes, Huttenlocker and Hansen both fouled out. Deloney also picked up her fourth foul and with 54 seconds left in the game and a 10 point lead, there was an eerie feeling in the gymnasium if Auburn could hold on.

“I was telling them to keep their heads up and we were all telling each other to keep going. Even though some of the starters fouled out, we couldn’t just give up right there,” Deloney said.

But time ran out for Spanaway Lake and Auburn was able to hold off the Sentinels and advance. Auburn now will take on No. 6 seeded Skyview with a trip to the state tournament on the line on Feb. 14.

After their only loss in state to Tahoma back on Jan. 6, Auburn has now won nine games in a row. It has been a different team the back half of the season.

“When we lost, it made us sad and angry. At practice we just kept working hard and working together, building on that chemistry so we have a lot more confidence,” Deloney said.