Northwest Yeshiva Girls Basketball Heads to State

The 613s powered their way into the 1B Girls Basketball WIAA Hardwood Classic in Spokane with a convincing 54-30 win over Mary M. Knight Owls Saturday night in a state regional playoff at Timberline High in Lacey.

Leading 21-15 at halftime, the 613s had an 18-2 run in the third quarter that gave the needed cushion to cruise toward a State berth.

Junior center Grace Almo said the game started slowly against the Owls but crucial baskets from star guard Julia Owen, offensive rebounding from forward Ilana Greenberg and team defense led by Laurel Aaronson gave the 613's the win.

"The women set out on the court determined to win," she said. "They played great defense, worked the ball around, rebounded, and made good shots."

Northwest Yeshiva (21-3) will join the Elite 8 that will will vie for the State championship on March 1-3 at the Spokane Arena. They will face Columbia (24-1, Hunters, WA) at 7:15 p.m., March 1 in the first round.

The 613s will travel to Spokane without conflict or controversy. Thanks to a recent rule change, the WIAA must accommodate schools that celebrate a Saturday Sabbath, but the rules still don’t cover fast days. 

In 2010, the team reached the state tournament but their appearance was mired in controversy when the team refused to play during The Fast of Esther.

Although the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has typically switched games to accommodate schools that have a boys and girls team playing at the same time, NYHS girls basketball coach Jed Davis said they refused to switch NYHS to a late night game because “it wasn’t written in the rule book.” The forfeit of Game #2 drew state and national media attention and KOMO 4 aired two TV stories. Although the WIAA threatened to sanction NYHS (forfeiting a State level game is illegal), they backed down.

The girls volleyball team was also forced to forfeit their spot in the state tournament in 2011 because the entire tournament was scheduled during the Jewish Sabbath.

But this year, the current structure of the State tournament is not in conflict with any fast days through 2020. In addition, once a team makes it to a Friday game, WIAA regulations require the state to make any adjustments necessary to accommodate NYHS.

"The best part of this state tournament appearance just may be that we will participate with the full rights and opportunity of any other school," said NYHS coach Jed Davis. "Our girls are like all girls who play on state championship calibre level teams — dedicated, passionate about basketball and always among the school’s best academically. They deserve the same respect and opportunity."