Wolves’ season comes to an unsatisfying end

It’s inevitable for a season to end.

But the way the season ended for the South Kitsap High School girls basketball team left more than a sour taste in their mouths.

Facing Capital (20-5) in a West Central District loser-out game Friday night,

SK (10-13) watched its comeback fall short in a 48-45 loss.

It was one thing to lose, but SK coach Mike Allen rested the blame on two referees.

“You can win when it’s seven on five,” a dejected Allen said. “I can’t not comment on the refs. Those two guys were absolutely horrible. They should not be reffing.”

The disgust came to a head in the waning seconds of the game.

Trailing 46-45, SK’s Rebekah Proctor fouled Alyssa Ferdaszewski with 18 seconds left.

Ferdaszewski continued her motion after the foul and Sarah Groves went diving in for the ball. Both players hit the floor hard. A flagrant foul was called on Groves and she was ejected.

“They were both going for the ball, but because (Ferdaszewski) got injured, they called a flagrant on Groves,” Allen said. “That’s a terrible way to lose a game.”

A flagrant foul includes two free throws and possession of the ball.

Capital’s Emily Williams made just one of two to put Capital up 47-45.

On the inbounds play Capital’s Alisssa Wright was fouled immediately.

She missed the one-and-one free throw and a mad scramble ensued for the ball.

It rolled off an SK player out of bounds and gave possession back to Capital with seven seconds left.

Wright, who was fouled, made her first free throw but missed the second free throw to give SK a shot at tying the score to send it to overtime.

SK sophomore Lonni Tostenrude grabbed the rebound, but she threw the ball into the hands of a Capital player to end the game.

Emotions aside, Allen said he was proud of the way his team worked through the various setbacks the team suffered.

The journey for the Wolves started before the first game of the season when two-year varsity star Katie Ralph chose not to play so she could focus on volleyball.

“The loss of Katie Ralph was huge,” Allen said. “That was a senior leader we needed, and she didn’t play and that hurt us.”

Allen said losing Jamae Feddock to poor academics also hurt.

“She was averaging 17 points a game over the last five games she played,” Allen said. “That’s our leading scorer. The other person we didn’t have was Stephanie Robinson (academics).”

Allen compared the season to losing parts of a jigsaw puzzle.

it hurts a team’s chemistry and talent pool when you lose players, he said.

“It doesn’t really matter what piece it is,” he said. “When you take a piece out, it’s not complete. The team’s off and you have to start back a few steps from where you were.”

While the game was the last for seniors Groves, Proctor, Olivia Bui, and Carly Riggs, Allen said he is pleased about the team’s future.

“We return nine kids next year,” he said. “So I feel good about that. I’m proud of the young kids that stepped up. We started two sophomores in the post against seniors. They’re not sophomores basketball-wise. They turned it up. We’ll be fine coming back next year.”

Bui boldly said the team could have enough talent to win state in two years.

“There’s a lot going for this team,” Bui said. “They’re going to be great. I think they can win state with discipline, hard work, and with enough heart.”

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