CASTLE ROCK — With one second remaining on the clock in a 1A District 4 Tournament Pigtail Game, Tenino trailed Castle Rock by two.
Tenino coach Kirsi Gofinch called a timeout, hoping to draw up a play that the Beavers could execute to force overtime and extend their season. They had a chance just seconds earlier down one, but a turnover forced them to foul, and the Rockets added a point at the free-throw line.
The ball was inbounded from just behind the half-court line, flipped ahead just inside the three-point line at the wing. The shot would have had to be quick, precise, and over the hand of an out-stretched defender, but the chance itself was there.
Instead, the ball slipped away, allowing the clock to run out on not just the game, but Tenino’s season as well.
Final score: Castle Rock 50, Tenino 48.
“It’s tough, especially when it comes down to the wire like that,” Gofinch said after the game with a faint voice and tears welling in her eyes. “They got a taste, and they really wanted this one … We always go around and find something positive (after the game), but they were pretty quiet today.”
Gofinch said that the final play is one they would like to have back, but like any coach or player after a close loss, she kept replaying multiple other plays throughout the game that could have ended up making a difference.
Missed free throws, turnovers, fouls, Castle Rock offensive rebounds; any one play or sequence of events that could have changed the final outcome.
“I tell them all the time, I’ve still got games from high school that haunt me,” Gofinch said. “There’s all those little plays that add up in the end.”
Those will be the plays that stick in the Beavers’ mind for the coming days and weeks, but they also made several plays to be in that position in the final seconds.
After giving up five points in the first 25 seconds of the game, Brianna Asay scored six straight points to settle things down. She added four more points in the second, including two free throws after a hard foul in the final seconds of the first half, to give Tenino a 25-24 lead at halftime.
With around five minutes left in the game, the Beavers trailed 45-39. They held Castle Rock scoreless over the next three minutes to get back within two, and just 10 seconds after the Rockets hit a bucket to push their lead back to four, Georgia Gore drilled a three to make it a one-point game.
Less than a minute later, with 22 seconds remaining, Keira Laughlin hit a layup to give them a 48-47 lead.
“They stuck it out,” Gofinch said. “We’re really proud of them … They never give up. They are playing hard till the final buzzer. We’re here to get better, and we’re here to never give up. And that’s what they do.”
Castle Rock’s Ashlyn Meyers gave the Rockets the lead by banking in a layup with just over nine seconds remaining, leading to the final two Tenino possessions.
Asay finished with a game-high 12 points, while Kylie Gonia scored eight. Kylie Gonia and Chloe Grayless scored seven apiece, while Laughlin and Charley Jones both added six. Holly Thoren rounded out the Tenino side of the scorebook with two.
Gofinch became even more emotional when talking about her three seniors: Brynn Williams, Asay, and Thoren. While it’s Gofinch’s first year as the varsity coach at Tenino, she coached those three when they were seventh-graders.
“I got a soft spot for them,” Gofinch said. It just breaks my heart. I wanted to get a little deeper in the tournament. I wanted that for them. They’re a really special group.”
Gofinch said that she wants to make sure that group holds their heads up high for setting the foundation. After all, Tenino won as many games this season as it had the past two seasons combined, and it reached the district tournament for the first time since 2022.
“I know it’s not how they want to end, but this is where they’re leaving the program off,” Gofinch said. “It’s so much better than what they’ve been the last couple years. They showed everyone how to step up and play together.”
