Hoops: Renton girls win district championship

Despite both Renton High School basketball teams having a combined 7-40 record in the regular season, both the boys and girls basketball teams are headed to the state tournament. They made the district championship game, playing at Cleveland High School on Feb. 22.

Arguably the most improbable appearance is the Renton girls, making the state tournament for the second time in three years. The girls were a mere 2-18 heading into the KingCo Tournament and since the postseason started, the Redhawks have won four out of five games with just a one point loss to Cedarcrest in the KingCo Championship.

It all led to a District 2 championship game against Sultan, in which the Redhawks won 46-30 over the Turks.

“I did not see that one coming,” Head Coach Tim White said.

Leilah Spalding is the lone senior on the roster and really the catalyst of the turnaround that all began once the postseason started.

“These last three or four games, we switched our mindset to, this is a new season for us and we can win something out of this. For me I was making sure that we can all stay together,” Spalding said.

A district championship was not in the cards for Head Coach Tim White — it is one of the more unbelievable turnarounds at the stroke of midnight in his 18 years of coaching.

“The girls started clicking and buckling down. It happened at the right time,” White said.

White and Assistant Coach Earl Cheatam relied on their senior leadership from Spalding to get them through the tough times of the regular season.

“We had some tough times. You begin to question things. We had really good leadership through Leilah. She’s a coach on the floor. We have been together as a coach and player for four years,” White said.

Against the Turks, the two sides were locked in a battle early on. Renton took a 9-7 lead in the first quarter, in what turned out to be a very competitive first half.

“I felt like we were giving them the game, we were better than how we performed (in the first half). We made our adjustments at halftime and it worked,” White said.

Renton went to the locker room with an 18-16 lead, but felt safe despite the close game. Spalding hadn’t really taken off, but Renton was able to find some footing on offense, which has been their struggle all season. In league play, Renton had the fewest points scored in the KingCo Mountain and across all four leagues had the third fewest points (326).

Renton held Sultan to a six-point quarter out of the halftime break. Sophomore Precious Miles transferred from Lindbergh and has become a force on the defensive side of the floor.

“Off the court she’s so sweet, but on the court she’s scrappy and aggressive. It’s important for her to know how dominant she can be,” Spalding said.

In the fourth quarter, Renton’s offense had its best quarter of the game. The shooting percentage was excellent and four different Redhawks ripped the nylon in that period.

To go from a two-win team to district champion is unheard of. Spalding is really the only player from that state run two years ago that got much playing time. She knows what it takes to win at this point in the season.

Renton was given the 13th seed in the state tournament and takes on North Mason at Mount Tahoma on Feb. 28.

“It’s going to be a great game overall,” Spalding said.

The Renton boys game had a much different intensity than the girls — Foster came out hot and fiery with an attitude.

Foster defeated the Redhawks 61-60 to win their first district title since 1999. Foster’s own Head Coach Jerry Petty almost cost the Bulldogs the game in the final seconds.

As the Bulldogs were up four with 11.4 seconds left, Petty called a timeout he did not have. Renton senior Jordan Agosto went one of two from the free throw line, and Jalen Taylor proceeded to make a quick two-point baseline jump shot to cut the lead to one.

“We competed and we fought and we battled. I have no complaints about that. Things could have gone a little bit different,” Head Coach Rashaad Powell said.

Renton had a timeout left and needed to foul, and Foster inbounded and fumbled the ball. The scramble to possess the ball lasted the entire 5.6 seconds and Renton’s comeback failed in the end.

Renton needed a miracle to even get to a one-point game — heading into the fourth quarter the Redhawks trailed 49-40. Agosto and Isaac Elegan combined to go on a 12-0 run to open up the final frame and gave their team a breath of life.

Agosto would end up hitting another massive three-pointer late in the fourth to cut the lead to four as he finished with 33 points.

“He’s a four-year varsity guy. He’s seasoned and has a really good IQ,” Powell said.

The rest of Agosto’s teammates scored just 27 points.

The Redhawks went as Agosto went against Foster. In the first quarter, Renton scored just nine points, Agosto had three. In the second quarter, Agosto had eight points on 4/4 shooting, and Renton kept the Foster lead at four points, 26-22.

Agosto could have left Renton and transferred elsewhere, but his commitment to his team and his school shows the type of player and person he is.

As the game was going on, it was clear that Agosto was going to keep shooting and keep Renton in the game, and Jalen Taylor was doing the same, but on the glass. Agosto resurrected Renton from three 10-point deficits throughout the game.

“Foster is a well-coached team and in addition to that I felt we just came out flat. We didn’t have a lot of energy,” Powell said.

Taylor is a sophomore but hasn’t been able to play varsity basketball because he has been recovering from a knee injury since eighth grade. But his talent and work ethic has shown he can be dominant in the paint.

“He’s a great kid and great IQ … If he plays like he played tonight, we will be just fine,” Powell said.

But the biggest breakdown of the game came with 20 seconds left in the game. Renton had possession and a timeout down 59-57. The ball was passed to Landon Saephan, who looked like he was going to shoot a three-pointer, but at the last moment, he threw the ball on the ground away from himself. Foster then took the ball down the floor made an easy layup and went up four points, essentially ending the game.

Regardless of the result, Renton was headed to the state tournament, as they now are tasked March 1 with the Columbia River Rapids, who are the 11th seed.

To get to the state tournament, losing four out of five starters is a remarkable achievement for the Redhawks.

“Nobody gave us a chance to even be in any of these positions when we lost the guys we lost. To get to the league and district championship games with the lack of experience says a lot about the guys we have,” Powell said.