Auburn girls place for the first time since 1997

For the second straight season after winning a district title, but losing the quarterfinal qualifier, the Auburn Trojan girls basketball team was tasked with being a top eight seed in the round of 12. That’s where they were a year prior, but got upset and sent home before they could even get started.

This year is a different story. For the first time since 1997, the Trojan girls took home a trophy, finishing in sixth place after a loss to Chiawana 47-41. In that 1997 season, Auburn took home fourth. For a team that was ranked sixth in its own district, to take home a trophy is a special achievement.

“It is really cool… If you look at our gym, girls basketball history is very rich. We always look (at the banners) like we can be a part of history. I feel like they are all my little girls, so I am really happy for them. They just are great kids who work hard and never give up,” Head Coach Jessica Hansen said.

After falling by over 20 points to Woodinville, the Trojans showed incredible resolve and beat Camas. Auburn brought back a saying that they have used throughout the regular season — BBG or Bounce Back Game.

“No loss defines us. It is always the next play mentality. They have embraced that all year. Today was a perfect example,” Hansen said after the win over Camas on March 7. “They knew they were fighting for something.”

The girls got out to a blazing hot start, downing Redmond 63-42 in the first round inside the Tacoma Dome. It was domination from the tip-off for the Trojans, as they scored the games first 22 points.

Auburn led 20-0 at the end of the first quarter and essentially maintained the gap until the final buzzer. Redmond did get a shot off in the first quarter until the 5:40 mark and the ball shot didn’t touch the square on the backboard.

Four different Trojans scored in double figures, and Avery Hansen was two steals away from a triple double — utter dominance from the Trojans who exorcised their own demons in that game.

The Trojans took on Woodinville in the quarterfinals, a team they weren’t at all taken aback by because they had played earlier in the season. The first meeting between the Falcons and Trojans was back on Jan. 20 at the ShoWare Center where Woodinville won 49-44.

But the game on March 6 was much different, and not at all what Hansen had in mind for her girls.

“We kind of got punched in the mouth and it took us a while to respond. You can’t spot a good team 17 points in the state tournament,” Hansen said post-game.

Woodinville did to Auburn what Auburn did to Redmond just the day before. Before anyone could get comfortable in the seats, the Trojans were down double digits, which quickly turned to a 19-0 game. Auburn did manage to at least score in the first quarter, but were down 24-9 at the end of the first.

The second quarter was fairly back and forth with Auburn actually outscoring the Falcons 15-14, but still had a 13 point deficit to overcome.

Any momentum that Auburn’s girls had built went out the door coming out of the locker rooms after halftime. The Trojans scored just eight points in the third quarter and by that point the game was all but over.

“It was painful. It was painful to watch,” Hansen said.

Instead of having to wait a whole offseason, the Trojans had another life. This time in the consolation bracket.

Auburn headed to the consolation bracket, taking on Camas on March 7, for the second time in just over a week.

The Papermakers and Trojans played a thrilling district championship that had Auburn winning by just a single point, 46-45. A second meeting for a trip to the final day of the tournament was reason to believe a competitive game was at hand.

Auburn downed the Papermakers 58-53, an excellent response to the brutal loss to Woodinville just a day before. In total against the Falcons, Auburn shot 36.7% from the field. In the first half against Camas, the Trojans shot 59.1%, which gave them great momentum over the Papermakers.

“We just had a lot of energy today. Yesterday our energy was really low. Seeing the boys lose to the exact same team, we just wanted it really bad,” Auburn’s Kaleesa Howard said.

In the loss to Woodinville and the win against Camas, the Trojans had Kamryn Huttenlocker’s best performances of the season. She scored nine against Woodinville and 14 off the bench against Camas.

“That is just a kid who has been in the rotation all year long and made the most of her opportunity,” Hansen said.

With Huttenlocker off the bench, Auburn controlled the game, taking a 34-36 lead at the midway point.

The second half was more of the same for the Trojans, who never let the Papermakers get close enough to threaten the lead.

“During halftime, our coach really got into us and wanted us to keep the energy up,” Howard said.

It was a full team win for the Trojans. Avery Hansen continued to roll in her second state tournament as well. Hansen averaged 14.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 4.8 steals per game in the state tournament.

This Auburn team has zero seniors on the roster and just three juniors with Ari Deloney as the only starting player that is a junior. The future is bright for the Auburn Trojans girls basketball program. They should get used to taking trophies home as the youth and inexperience turns to a veteran filled “been there, done that” roster.

“Their resiliency to let a really bad game and not get too down and rebound is tough. For them to be so young and do that is really impressive,” Hansen said.