The La Salle Prep Falcons avenged their only loss of the season and claimed the Oregon 5A girls basketball state title Friday night with a 51-46 win over the top-seeded Hermiston Bulldogs at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.
Led by Aleah Goodman’s 27 points and Taycee Wedin’s 20 points, the Falcons never trailed in the game, which saw them jump out to an 11-1 lead midway through the first quarter. Hermiston climbed back into the game and cut the La Salle lead to 18-17 midway through the second before the Falcons went on a 9-3 run to close the half.
A jumper by Tavin Headings tied the game at 29 with about 5 minutes left in the third quarter. It was the only time Hermiston didn’t trail in the game. A three-pointer by Headings got Hermiston to within 3 with 2:46 left in the game, but the Bulldogs could only manage a pair of free throws by Abi Drotzmann the rest of the way.
Sara Ramirez led Hermiston with 15 points. Headings added 12 on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor and Jansen Edmiston scored 10 for Hermiston (25-3). Despite the loss, Hermiston had more points off turnovers, second-chance points, points in the paint and bench scoring than La Salle, but were unable to find an answer for Goodman, who was 6-for-10 from beyond the three-point line Friday for La Salle.
La Salle finishes the season with a 27-1 record. Their lone blemish of the season came on Jan. 16 at home in a 61-57 overtime loss against Hermiston.
