Bantams feel Stags’ antlers in girls basketball title game

The second-seeded Clarkston Bantams were “fearless,” as coach Debbie Sobotta put it, in a spirited effort to avenge two regular-season defeats to Class 2A district girls basketball tournament top seed Deer Park on Thursday in front of a partisan home crowd for the undefeated Stags at Deer Park High.

An upset, however, was decidedly not on the cards in this title clash. The hosts’ efficient offense on the outside and inside alike, their continual vigorous full-court press defense and an injury to the Bantams’ point guard made a perfect recipe for a Clarkston defeat, with the final scoreline reading 59-37 for Deer Park.

Nonetheless, Sobotta has found the positives as her Bantams gear up for their Washington Class 2A state play-in game.

“I’m very thankful that we got to play against (Deer Park) three times, and against that press, because we go to Prosser on Saturday and they have a similar press to that, and it will not be anything we haven’t seen before,” Sobotta said.

Knocked from their perch

Heading into Thursday’s game, the Bantams (18-5) were defending district champions — but last year, their district did not include Deer Park (22-0), which moved up to join the 2A Greater Spokane League for the first time this season. Not only are the Stags undefeated in their current campaign, but since the beginning of last season, they have won 45-of-46 games, with the lone defeat coming 70-67 in a 2024 Washington Class 1A state final against Nooksack Valley of Everson.

This was Clarkston and Deer Park’s third meeting of the season, with the Stags widening their winning margin in each successive game. Deer Park is a formidable threat from long range, as it showed Thursday with nine total 3-pointers including four from Brooklyn Coe, who led all scorers with 19 points.

When Clarkston amped up its defensive efforts around the perimeter, Deer Park smoothly transitioned to an inside attack and continued scoring uninterrupted.

Demoralizing runs of scoring to start each half — the first powered from the outside, the second built around steals and fast-break layups — put Deer Park in an unassailable position on the scoreboard, with its output only slowing in the last 12-minutes-or-so of play. On the other side of the ball, the Stags’ press helped them make frequent steals and draw 23 turnovers from the Bantams.

“They have played together for a very long time, and it shows — but it doesn’t mean they can’t be beat, and we’re not looking at them like if we see them again they’re going to get us automatically,” Sobotta said. “We don’t give up; we battle them every time.”

“Playing it by ear”

The Clarkston effort was significantly hampered by a knee injury to standout Jaelyn McCormack-Marks, who generally plays nearly all 32 minutes and often leads the team with double-digit scoring outputs and healthy contributions in other facets of the game, but on this occasion went to the bench for good during the third quarter without having so much as registered a point.

She did still notch a team-high three assists, including one via a feed to Reese de Groot under the hoop on the last possession of the first half to pull the Bantams back within half the Stags’ total at 38-20.

“It was just kind of touch-and-go tonight,” Sobotta said of McCormack-Marks’ participation. “We were just kind of playing it by ear, and she just wasn’t moving very well on (the knee), and I think it really affected her game. It just wasn’t worth keeping her out there when we have a do-or-die game on Saturday.”

In what was the Bantams’ lowest-scoring outing of the season, Ryann Combs led the team with seven points, while de Groot had six, all of which came in the second quarter to help her team avoid being doubled-or-tripled on the board. Freshman Joslyn McCormack-Marks — younger sister of Jaelyn — tallied five points and a team-best four steals.

With resting starters for Saturday in mind as the fourth quarter came on, Clarkston brought in multiple players off the bench who pulled their weight and helped the team produce its highest-scoring period of the game at 13 points.

“I was just so impressed and proud of those girls, because they played fearlessly and just attacked a very good team offensively and defensively,” Sobotta said. “They were able to put some points on the board and get some steals.”

Up next

As part of a regional crossover with the Central Washington Athletic Conference, the Bantams will play as visitors against the Prosser Mustangs at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The winner advances to the Washington Class 2A state tournament to be held March 5-8 at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

CLARKSTON (18-5)

Jaelyn McCormack-Marks 0 0-0 0, Preslee Dempsey 0 2-2 2, Reese de Groot 3 0-0 6, Aneysa Judy 0 3-4 3, Joslyn McCormack-Marks 2 1-2 5, Ryann Combs 3 0-0 7, Tatum Sevy 1 0-0 2, Ella Leavitt 0 0-0 0, Laney Augir 2 1-2 5, Lexi Villavicencio 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 7-10 37.

DEER PARK (22-0)

Olivia Gannon 1 0-0 2, Brooklyn Coe 7 1-2 19, Berlyn Zimmerer 2 0-0 5, Jacey Boesel 3 6-6 13, Ashlan Bryant 3 2-3 9, Kaylee Reiter 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Scott 1 0-0 3, Emma Bryant 3 0-2 8. Totals 20 9-13 59.

Clarkston 7 13 4 13—37

Deer Park 17 21 10 11—59

3-point goals — Combs, McManigle, Coe 4, E. Bryant 2, Zimmerer, Boesel, A. Bryant.