Tahoma's convincing victory leads to impressive feat - four consecutive 4A NPSL girls basketball titles

Bears wrap up another one in their home gymnasium behind 14 3-pointers in a 66-30 victory over Decatur

MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. - It's pretty clear the fourth-ranked Tahoma Bears girls are preparing for an extended stay into March.

Buoyed by a scorching perimeter-shooting start, the Bears wrapped up their fourth consecutive 4A NPSL title with a convincing 66-30 victory Thursday night over visiting Decatur.

And if this group of seniors led the team to a win Saturday over Mount Rainer, the Bears will have gone 46-1 against NPSL (4A and 3A) competition over the past four years during the regular season.

"I've been fortunate to come to a good program in a very cool spot - with a great community that supports basketball," said Tahoma girls coach Pete Smith, who took over the program in 2019-20. "But I couldn't have imagined this - four straight (4A NPSL titles. It's pretty special."

Decatur has a reputation of bottling up offenses with its defensive pressure - but not Thursday. The Bears came down on five consecutive possessions - and sank five 3-pointers.

It was almost a game of "Around the World" in where Tahoma was sinking those long-range shots. Point guard Hope Hassmann started it with a 3-pointer from left center.

Then she nailed one at the top of the arc. Then it was Angelina Cavanaugh's turn, making three 3-pointer in a row, starting from the right corner.

Tahoma hit eight of its first nine field-goal attempts in the first 4:17 of the game. Its lead was 22-4.

"We were talking in the locker room before the game that we wanted to have a game ... that was about us," Cavanaugh said. "That is what happened tonight."

In all, the Bears drilled 11 3-pointers in the first half - with Cavanaugh capping it with a left-corner shot at the buzzer to end the first half, giving the champions a 51-18 advantage.

Cavanaugh finished the game with a game-high 24 points. Sister Lily Cavanaugh added 20 points, and Hassmann had 11.

And now they wait -for the West Central/Southwest District tournament to begin. If they win one game, they will advance to the Class 4A regional round, likely already clinching their first trip with this group to the Tacoma Dome for the WIAA championships.

"I feel like we’ve been ready since the end of our last season," Cavanaugh said.