'She would be so proud:' Zillah girls win WIAA 1A championship for their late coach
Brandie Valadez last message to her team before dying in August was for the Leopards to bring home the state title
Editor’s note: This game story was originally published by content-sharing partner Stat Hound Media, founded by journalist Jerrel Swenning. Support that venture at stathoundmedia.com.
YAKIMA, Wash. — Somewhere, Brandie Valadez is smiling.
The late Zillah girls basketball coach, who roamed the sidelines 13 years for her beloved Leopards, shared a final wish with her players before she passed away last summer.
As her daughter Bella recounted with tears dripping down her cheeks, Coach Valadez delivered one last challenge to her players before she succumbed to cancer.
“Right before she passed, she said, ‘Go out and win the gold ball for us,’” Bella said. “And we did that.”
Behind 25 points from June Fiander, 10 each from Angie Buck and Makenna Klitzke, and a trio of 3-pointers from Valadez, the Leopards accomplished something that had never happened in program history on Saturday night in the Yakima Valley SunDome.
The black-and-orange crew brought home the gold ball.
“She would be hugging us all right now,” Bella Valadez said after Zillah’s 63-51 victory over top-seeded King’s. “She would be so proud.”
Klitzke said she and her teammates have been on a mission to win one for Brandie. After their 13th victory in a row Saturday night, the Leopards can confidently say that they played their best basketball when it mattered most.
“We were playing for Brandie, and this is what she would have wanted,” Klitzke said. “Her watching over us is what won us this game. I have no doubt in my mind.”
The game changed in the final minute of the third quarter.
Senior Addison Johnston hit a reverse layup in the waning seconds to give the Leopards a 43-40 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Then, Fiander and Valadez proceeded to score the next 10 points, capping a 14-0 run for the Leopards.
“Coming into the tournament, I thought we should be the No. 1 seed, and we definitely proved it tonight,” Klitzke said. “We have a different level of work ethic than everyone else, and no one else has gone through what we have, losing our coach. I believe that extra level of push — the way Brandie always coached us — is the reason we won tonight.”
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