YAKIMA – Devin Coppinger hit 4-of-4 foul shots down the stretch, and willed her team to a second straight 1A State Championship as Nooksack Valley defeated Deer Park 70-67.
The Stags were hot early, knocking down nine three-pointers in the first half alone, and led 39-34 at halftime.
Every time Deer Park would near a double-digit lead, Pioneer senior guard Kaylee Anderson would bury a three-point shot to get her team right back in it.
Her biggest shots came midway through the fourth quarter. One was an answer-three that cut the Stag lead to 58-57 with 4:50 left in the game, and her next one tied the game at 60-60 with 3:38 left, causing Deer Park to call a time out.
The Stags hit a put back to take a 62-60 lead with 3:07 left, but senior forward Lainey Kimball answered with a 15-foot jumper.
After a pair of turnovers, Kimball got fouled and was sent to the line with the game tied 62-62. She hit both of her shots, but Deer Park came back with a close bank shot to tie it up again with 1:09 left in the game.
Coppinger hit a driving layup on the left side of the basket which put Nooksack Valley up 66-64 with 50 seconds remaining, but the Stags followed that up by draining their 13th deep ball of the game, and taking a 67-66 lead with 28 seconds left.
At this point, Coppinger was going to will her way to the hoop, or to the line.
Down by one, she drove hard to the hoop and was fouled going in. She made both of her foul shots to put the Pioneers on top. A missed shot by Deer Park allowed Nooksack Valley to regain possession, and multiple fouls on Coppinger sent her to the line for the final time in her storied career.
She drained her last two attempts with a few precious seconds remaining in the game. Deer Park’s desperation shot at the final buzzer fell short and the Pioneers had won the title in what was Coach Shane Wichers’ 700th game coached.
Coppinger ended with 27 points, five rebounds, four assists and she was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Tana Hoekema was named to the All-Tournament second team.
Anderson hit 6-of-9 three pointers to finished with 18 points and Kimball hustled her way to 15 points and seven boards.
Nooksack Valley 70, Deer Park 67 NV 14 20 16 20 - 70 DP 23 16 13 15 - 67 Nooksack Valley: Kimball 5-8 5-6 15, Shintaffer 0-2 0-0 0, Bartl 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-3 0-0 0, Coppinger 9-17 9-10 27, Hoekema 1-5 2-4 4, Anderson 6-10 0-0 18, Dykstra 2-3 0-1 4, DeHoog 1-2 0-0 2. Deer Park: Gannon 0-0 0-0 0, Coe 5-9 2-2 17, Zimmerer 2-6 0-0 5, Coolbaugh 2-4 0-0 4, A. Bryant 8-16 2-2 20, Scott 2-3 2-2 8, E. Bryant 4-8 2-2 13. Percentages: FG - NV 24-50 .480, DP 23-46 .500; FT - NV 16-21 .762, DP 8-8 1.000. 3-point goals: NV 6-17 (Anderson 6-9, Kimball 0-1, Shintaffer 0-1, DeHoog 0-1, Davis 0-2, Coppinger 0-3), DP 13-24 (Coe 5-8, E. Bryant 3-6, Scott 2-2, A. Bryant 2-5, Zimmerer 1-3). Rebounds: NV 30 (Kimball 7), DP 23 (A. Bryant 7). Assists: NV 8 (Coppinger 4), DP 11 (A. Bryant 4). Steals: NV 3 (Kimball 1, Hoekema 1, DeHoog 1), DP 5 (A. Bryant 3). Blocks: NV 2 (Hoekema 1, DeHoog 1), DP 0.
