It's Central Valley's world in 3A girls basketball, and everyone else is living in it, 3 takeaways

Draeyelle Domebo's 17 points, Bears' defense fuels 56-40 win over Ridgeline to win Greater Spokane League crown

Eden Sander, 11, and the No. 1 Central Valley girls wrapped up 2024-25 Greater Spokane League title with home win over Ridgeline. / Photo by Lane Mathews

Top-ranked Central Valley girls showed emphatically why they are best squad coming out of Spokane - and why they should be the team to beat in all of Class 3A come March.

Backed by a stifling defense, and scoring that came in waves, led by Draeyelle Domebo's team-high 17 points, the undefeated Bears took out No. 5 Ridgeline, 56-40, on Friday night to capture the 4A/3A Greater Spokane League championship in Spokane Valley.

McDonald's All-American Brynn McGaughy added a quiet 14 points for the Bears in a matchup between the league's top two scorers with Ridgeline's Emma Myers, who led all scorers with 25 points.

"I know Freddie (Rehkow, Ridgeline and ex-Central Valley coach) mentioned earlier in the year that he hoped we were undefeated coming into this game, and that the pressure would be on us," Bears' third-year coach Jason Wilson said. "We had a lot of motivation to go get this one."

Here are three takeaways from the Central Valley-Ridgeline girls basketball game:

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UW SIGNEE BRYNN MCGAUGHY IS MISSING PIECE

The biggest revelation about the Bears with McGaughy as their new addition for one season - she is just a cog in the well-greased wheel.

Certainly, the 6-foot-3 playmaker is the team's No. 1 option most nights - and should be with her well-rounded inside-outside game.

But she isn't the centerpiece of everything as one might expect from a five-star prospect - and she seems OK with that.

"A lot of players with her stature would want more touches," Wilson said. "But she never complains."

Case in point - the game Friday: McGaughy was closely monitored by Ridgeline post player Madilyn Crowley, who has enough strength to keep her from dominating the interior. The Falcons also offered help-side defense, too, in an attempt to limit her effectiveness.

And even though it was McGaughy's 3-pointer that triggered the Bears' opening 13-0 run, it ended up being Domebo's perimeter shooting and Eden Sander's ability to slash and get buckets near the hoop in what carried the offense.

"We always tell them, 'Everyone eats!'" Wilson said. "When you share it, everyone gets a piece of the pie."

In that sense, McGaughy's impact does not always show up on the scoring stat-line, even though she leads the team in that category. What she does give this team every night is a true two-way interior presence, even though she will likely play guard in college.

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DRAEYELLE DOMEBO ARRIVING JUST IN TIME

The Bears have a bevy of girls who can make 3-pointers. But Domebo's itchy-trigger release is the truest of all.

An all-league honorable mention guard as a ninth grader last season, Domebo missed the first half of the season with a foot issue, suffered during the summer.

But her return over the past month or so has really given this offense a boost. It showed up Friday as well.'

In the team's opening-quarter run, she canned a mid-range jumper - then drilled the team's third 3-pointer to give the Bears an 11-0 lead.

She sank the second of her team-high three 3-pointers to push the Bears' lead to 18-4 in the second quarter. She opened the second-half scoring on another jump shot - and closed her field-goal scoring with a final 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, finishing 5-of-12 from the floor.

"She can fill it," Wilson said.

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EMMA MYERS IS BONA FIDE ALPHA SCORER

After coaching the Ridgeline boys squad the past few seasons, Rehkow returned to the girls side and immediately discovered he had one of the top players in the city.

It was Myers, the 6-foot senior with an unstoppable mid-range game and a fearless desire to attack the basket.

And with all-league sophomore point guard Grace Sheridan (shoulder) on the shelf all season, the ball is in Myers' hands most of the time. She had 25 points Friday on 8-of-23 shooing against a swarming Central Valley defense designed to halt her.

"And this is after she missed two practices (sick)," Rehkow said.

"She plays with no fear. She is 100 percent alpha. It's, 'Give me the ball and get out of my way!'"

What did in the Falcons on Friday were turnovers (14) and no running mate to Myers on offense.

"They sped us up," Rehkow said. "And a few times, we did not close out on their shooters."

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