THE SANBORN Central/Woonsocket student body, dressed in that evening’s theme, prepares for a free throw during the Friday night game.

“The best player in the state… in any class.”
Tom Young’s heavily defensive Rustlers got by the Blackhawks in the semifinal round, but the Ethan coach knew exactly what he was dealing with when his team met the Blackhawks.
Coming off a three-game, 102-point streak, Young knew Sanborn Central/Woonsocket’s Myah Selland was a serious threat — they’d met in the regular season and wound up four points shy — and the Rustler game plan reflected that.
The young, but experienced Rustlers depended on their defense, zeroing in on Selland, and it worked, for a 56-29 win over the similarly young Blackhawks.
An overabundance of fouls early in the game changed the pace for the Blackhawks and helped tip the scales towards the highly physical Rustlers. By halftime, a 17-point deficit was dug, one that SCW would not be able to climb out of.
Ethan’s No. 2-seeded defense turned the ball over just twice in the game and led the way for an effective offense to turn a first quarter, seven-point lead into a 17-point lead at the half. It was a lead that held until the end of the third and only broadened in the fourth.
The Blackhawks were plagued throughout the contest with missed shots, foul trouble and the opposing team’s stall tactic. In the fourth quarter the beleaguered Blackhawks were only able to muster two points.
Despite a challenging atmosphere, Selland shared the game high of 16 points, while adding on 15 rebounds. Kayla Olson helped out with two three-pointers for six points.
Sanborn Central/Woonsocket shot just 24 percent field goals hitting nine out of 37 shots and went 50 percent on 18 tries from the charity stripe.
Ethan shot 23-of-53 from the field for 43 percent and hit nine out of 16 from the line.
Ethan was led by Karly Gustafson, who had 15 points and 16 rebounds and Rachel Hawkins with 16 points. Ellie Hohn was the third Rustler in double figures with 13 points. Hawkens also had five of nine total steals.
The game looked nearly even on the rebounding front. SCW had 33 and Ethan, 34. The Blackhawks had 15 turnovers to Ethan’s two, 17 fouls, compared to 15 by the Rustlers and just two steals.
The loss sent the Blackhawks into the third place game versus Avon Saturday night and set up the Rustlers against Sully Buttes for the championship. Sully Buttes came out with the state title, 33-25.