09-03-2025
Perfect season: McGaughy, Central Valley beat Lakeside in 3A state championship game
It wasn't a dazzling offensive performance on either side in the Class 3A girls basketball state championship game on Saturday afternoon at the Tacoma Dome. Both top-seeded Central Valley and No. 6 Lakeside struggled to put the ball in the hoop for stretches, but Central Valley made enough shots down the stretch to pull away for a 39-34 win.
It capped off an undefeated 27-0 season for Central Valley.
'It's hard to do,' said forward Brynn McGaughy, a UW commit who will play in the McDonald's All-American game. 'The east side schools don't really get enough credit. The west side, they get all the press, they get all that. We came into this game showing we want to get some of the looks, we want to get the media and all that.
'It's hard to be undefeated, but just working every single day, practicing with the right mindset is pretty important.'
Central Valley held Lakeside to just two points of offense for most of the fourth quarter. Lakeside guard Willa Chinn fouled out late in the third quarter and the Lions were never able to find their footing offensively without their star senior guard.
'Understanding one of their best players did foul out, you have to take advantage of those things,' McGaughy said.
And the Bears did just that, outscoring Lakeside 11-6 in the final quarter to seal the win. McGaughy posted an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double. Guard Eden sander scored eight and guards Keana Gosney and Gabbie Wilson chipped in seven points apiece. Lakeside guard Helena Christofilis scored a team-high 14 points and Chinn added six.
Central Valley had a 12 point lead at halftime but it evaporated in the second half. Lakeside tied the game late in the third quarter after going on a 17-3 run.
'We knew they were a second-half team, so we were prepared for that,' Sander said. 'We knew it would be a struggle coming out of half, so we just had to really lock in mentally and weather the storm.'
McGaughy said she wouldn't have believed Central Valley could win the title scoring under 40 points, but that the Bears did enough down the stretch to secure the low-scoring win.
'We took a dub because of those little details, getting those rebounds, getting those box outs,' she said.
