Tahoma snapped a three game losing streak with a 53-44 win over Kentlake in the final regular season game to clinch a playoff berth.
It was a balanced offensive attack that helped the Bears stop the Falcons.
Tahoma took a two point halftime lead and stretched it to a 12 point advantage a minute and 21 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Jordan Eberhardt kicked off the second half scoring with a three pointer. The freshman finished the game with nine points.
Eberhardt drained another trey with 1:48 left in the third quarter while leading scorer Katie Buskey sat on the bench with four fouls.
Kimber Morrison chipped in a long ball with 9.2 seconds left in the third pushing the Bears lead to 37-26.
Senior Brittani Miller also chipped in a pair of key buckets during the third quarter which saw Tahoma outscore Kentlake 14-7.
Buskey came back in with 4:21 left in the game and was solid from the free throw line down the stretch, shooting 9 for 12 from the charity stripe, tallying 16 points for the contest.
Miller collected seven points, eight boards and grabbed three steals.
On Senior Night this win was particularly sweet for Buskey and Miller who have not been to the playoffs with the Bears. The pair turned cartwheels on the court afterward and exchanged flying shoulder bumps.
Miller said the win meant so much to her because it will be her first time in the post-season.
“We’ve worked so hard,” Miller said. “It’s good that we’ll get to go. We had the mindset that we had to make up for the losses (in games) that we should’ve won.”
Miller said the key for the second half was wanting to win.
“Our intensity went up because we realized if we didn’t step it up we were going to lose,” Miller said.
That intensity will have to continue as Tahoma heads into the South Puget Sound League playoffs this weekend as the fourth seed out of the North Division.
Buskey said it means so much to her as a senior to get to the playoffs, a goal the team set at the beginning of the season.
“For the seniors it’s really important to show the freshmen that we can achieve that goal,” Buskey said.
Buskey said it was tough to not be on the court helping her team while she sat in foul trouble but she was impressed with how the Bears played.
“Other players made shots that we had to make,” she said. “They stepped up when I wasn’t playing.”
With a Thomas Jefferson’s loss to Mount Rainier Tuesday night, Tahoma secures the fourth seed, finishing the regular season at 8-8 in SPSL play and 9-11 overall.
The playoffs start Saturday and Buskey said the team needs to come out swinging.
“We need to play more aggressively in the first half… and not get lazy,” she said.
