FOREST GROVE, ORE. – Just about the time it looked like Sutherlin was buried and the Cinderella story of winning four-straight state titles was about to end, the comeback switch was flipped on and the Bulldogs completed one of the biggest comebacks ever in the history of the 4A girls state basketball tournament.
The Sutherlin girls basketball team rallied from an 18-point deficit late in the third quarter to pull out a 49-43 victory over the Banks Braves and claim their fourth-straight championship.
Banks held a 34-16 lead after a 12-0 run to start the third period. Sutherlin had gone cold and didn’t score for more than four minutes in the quarter. But then Taylor Stricklin and Harlee Baker each hit a pair of three-pointers and all of a sudden it was only a four-point game.
The Lady Bulldogs scored the last 14 points of the third quarter to only trail 34-30 going to the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs outscored Banks 19-9 with Stricklin scoring nine of her game-high 24 points in the period. Sutherlin also cleaned up its free throw shooting to help seal the victory. The Bulldogs hit 10-of-11 in the final period after going 1-for-6 over the first three quarters.
Junior guard Kiersten Porter hit four huge free throws in a row late in the fourth quarter, including two with :12 left to play that gave Sutherlin a four-point advantage. That was enough to finish off the Braves and give the Bulldogs their fourth-straight title.
A surprising stat from the first half of the ballgame was that the Bulldogs made five 3-pointers, but failed to score a two-point basket. Sutherlin finished the game with 10 threes.
Stricklin had five 3-pointers, Baker had three, and Kiersten Haines added one more. Baker finished with 11 points and Eliza Sorenson added five points, four rebounds, six assists, two blocks and one steal before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Sutherlin finishes the season with a 23-5 record and wins its fifth state championship in the program’s history.
Stricklin was named the Moda Health Player of the Game and was also a unanimous selection to the All-Tournament first team along with teammate Harlee Baker. Stricklin led the tournament in scoring with an average of 20.3 points per game.
Banks finished the season 22-3 and the second place finish was the best finish in the program’s history.
