What a Year!
The 2019-20 season was one for the ages. In addition to repeating as conference and tournament champions, the team made it all the way to the State Championship game coming one game short of winning it all! Along the way the girls and coaching staff racked up numerous accolades, made lifetime memories and had incredible fun.
Coach Jeff Wilson named the Washington 3A Coach of the Year!
2nd Place 2020 3A Washington State Championships!
Final: Kangs 41 - Garfield 55
The Kangs lost to the Garfield Bulldogs 55-41 in the 2020 3A State Championship game on Saturday, March 7. The Kangs, who finished the season 22-7, valiant effort fell just bit short of becoming state champions. Regardless of the outcome, this was a fantastic, break-through season for the team. Three years ago in Coach Jeff Wilson's first season as Head Coach , the team only won 2 games! Additionally, this is also the first time Lake Washington played Girls Basketball state final, since losing to Prairie 51-41 in the 1999 4A championship. Saying we're well ahead of plan is a gross understatement. While we lose seniors Jen Estes and Hannah Sitterud to graduation with four starters back next year to quote the band Timbuk 3, the future's so bright, [we] gotta wear shades!
Sophomore Rosa Smith led with a team-high 17 points and Elise Hani and Sophia Liesse each pulled down 9 and 8 rebounds respectively. For their outstanding tournament performances, Sophia and Rosa were both named to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association's (WIAA) first all tournament team, and Jeff Wilson was named Coach of the Tournament (article).
Watch video highlights and see photographs from the game on the In the News and Photos pages.
Congratulations team on a dream season!
Sophomore Rosa Smith led with a team-high 17 points and Elise Hani and Sophia Liesse each pulled down 9 and 8 rebounds respectively. For their outstanding tournament performances, Sophia and Rosa were both named to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association's (WIAA) first all tournament team, and Jeff Wilson was named Coach of the Tournament (article).
Watch video highlights and see photographs from the game on the In the News and Photos pages.
Congratulations team on a dream season!
Front row L-to-R: Jolie Sim, Emma Boctor, Rosa Smith, Jen Estes, Hannah Sitterud
Back Row L-to-R: Coach Jeff Wilson, Asst Coach Lizzie Giovacchini, Sophia Liesse, Elise Hani, Ellie Pederson, Emily Coma, Sydney Hani, Asst Coach Jennifer Sorensen
Kangs Defeat #1 Eastside Catholic in State Semifinal
Final: Kangs 62 - Eastside Catholic 49
The Lady Kangs defeated #1 ranked Eastside Catholic in the state semifinals to advance to the championship game Saturday night against #9 seeded Garfield. All-conference junior Sophia Liesse scored a game-high 22 points (4-5 from 3) and sophomore Rosa Smith dropped 13 and 3 steals. Senior Jen Estes pulled down 9 rebounds, added 7 points including making 2 free throws with 26 seconds left in the game. (Article)
Jen Estes shows her speed by exploding to the goal for a lay-up
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Sophia Liesse's 3-pointer contributed to her 22 points
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Elise Hani was a force on both ends of the court
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Ellie Pederson leans in for 2 with less than a few minutes left in the 4th quarter
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Jen Estes seals the deal with 26 seconds remaining
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Rosa Smith nails her shot late in the 4th quarter
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The team celebrates the victory which sends them into the State Championship!
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Kangs Advance to State Semifinals
Final: Kangs 48 - Mt. Spokane 45
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The #6 seeded Lady Kangs defeated last year's 3A state runner-up #4 Mt. Spokane in the quarterfinals Thursday afternoon in a down to the wire thriller. Super sophomore Rosa Smith nailed 2 free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory and add to her 16 points, 9 rebound effort. Senior Jen Estes incredible spin move at the top of the key with under a minute to go scored our final field goal while Sophomore (super too/two!), Elise Hani, dropped in 10 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Juniors Sophia Liessa and Ellie Pedersen made huge 3s (4 of them) and finished with 6 points a piece.
Ellie was awarded the games sportsmanship medal for the team (see photo). |
Ellie Pederson
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1st Round States win over #14 Hudson’s Bay
Final: Kangs 57 - Hudson's Bay 40
The #6 seeded Lady Kangs beat the Hudson’s Bay Eagles 57-40 on Wednesday, March 4 in the first round of the WIAA's 3A State Championship tournament. With the win the girls advance to the second round against #4 Mt. Spokane on Thursday. We played great team defense and our shooting touch returned in earnest (we made 8 three-point shots!). (Article)
Junior Ellie Pederson scores 1 of her 4 3-pointers on the way to 14 for the game
Sophomore Rosa Smith shoots a beautiful teardrop for 2
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Spirits were high from the start and our team played with passion throughout the game
Sophomore Elise Hani used her size to get great point-blank range shots
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Junior Sophia Liesse won the sportsmanship award for the Kangs
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Our first time in the Tacoma Dome since 2004
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3rd Place in SeaKing 3A Tournament
The #2-seeded Lady Kangs started the SeaKing 3A tournament by beating #10 Bishop Blanchet 47-32. Led by Sophomore Rosa Smith's 17 points the team never trailed and at one time were up by 21 points.
On Thursday, the Kangs lost to #3 Garfield 57-63 in very hard fought game. Freshman Sydney Hani scored a career high 19 points and senior Jen Estes had 15 in the effort.
The Lady Kangs won the SeaKing 3rd place game against their KingCo rival Juanita 67-45 on Saturday. As was expected this was a tough game as the team had already played Juanita three times in KingCo regular season and during the KingCo tournament championship game.
Juanita jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter before the Kangs tightened their defense. Without Senior co-captain Jen Estes who was visiting Princeton where she is playing soccer next year, it was up to the underclassman to be leaders and that's exactly what they did. Behind first team all-conference sophomore Rosa Smith who led all scores with 19 points, the Lady Kangs beat the Rebels the fourth time this year. Sophomore Elise Hani contributed 15 points, Juniors' Elli Pederson and Sophia Liesse each had 10 and in a well-rounded effort the rest of the team contributed 13 points. (Article)
On Thursday, the Kangs lost to #3 Garfield 57-63 in very hard fought game. Freshman Sydney Hani scored a career high 19 points and senior Jen Estes had 15 in the effort.
The Lady Kangs won the SeaKing 3rd place game against their KingCo rival Juanita 67-45 on Saturday. As was expected this was a tough game as the team had already played Juanita three times in KingCo regular season and during the KingCo tournament championship game.
Juanita jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter before the Kangs tightened their defense. Without Senior co-captain Jen Estes who was visiting Princeton where she is playing soccer next year, it was up to the underclassman to be leaders and that's exactly what they did. Behind first team all-conference sophomore Rosa Smith who led all scores with 19 points, the Lady Kangs beat the Rebels the fourth time this year. Sophomore Elise Hani contributed 15 points, Juniors' Elli Pederson and Sophia Liesse each had 10 and in a well-rounded effort the rest of the team contributed 13 points. (Article)
Rosa Smith’s teardrop floater on her way to 19 points
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Sophia Liessa scores two en-route to her 10 point effort
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2020 KingCo 2A/3A Conference Tournament Champions!
On Tuesday, February 11 the Lady Kangs repeated as KingCo 2A/3A Conference Tournament Champions by defeating Juanita High School for the third time this year, 63-31. It was a complete team effort as every Kang who played scored. Rosa Smith led the team with 18 points, Jen Estes chipped in 8 and Ellie Pedersen had 11 including 3 huge 3-pointers which helped the Kangs jump to a double-digit lead in the first half.
2019-20 KingCo 2A/3A Repeat as Conference Champions
Congratulation to our Varsity team who repeated as regular season Conference Champions! The girls finished 11-1 in KingCo 2A/3A and are riding a 6-game win streak heading into the KingCo Playoff Championship game against the Juanita Rebels on Tuesday, February 11.
We're also extremely proud of our Junior Varsity team who went undefeated in the conference and only lost a single game all season to the 4A Woodinville JV girls in the first game of the year. After that loss, they went without another loss in 18 straight games. Congratulations girls!
We're also extremely proud of our Junior Varsity team who went undefeated in the conference and only lost a single game all season to the 4A Woodinville JV girls in the first game of the year. After that loss, they went without another loss in 18 straight games. Congratulations girls!
5 Kangs on 2019-20 KingCo All-Conference team
Congratulations to junior Sophia Liesse and sophomores Rosa Smith and Elise Hani who were named first team All-Conference! Elise also was named Defensive Player of the Year undoubtedly boosted by her averaging 3.9 blocks per game. Through 21 games, Rosa is averaging 11 points per game (PPG), 5 assists and 3 steals, Elise 11 PPG and 12 rebounds per game (RPG) and Sophia averaged 9 PPG and 4 RPG while leading the team's free throw percentage.
Last but certainly not least, senior Jen Estes and junior Ellie Pederson were named 3rd team All-Conference. Jen averages 8 PPG, 5 RPG and is shooting 51% of her 2s and 42% of her 3s. Ellie is averaging 5 PPG and 3 RPG. The recognition of those players means all five of our starters are on the All-Conference teams!
Last but certainly not least, senior Jen Estes and junior Ellie Pederson were named 3rd team All-Conference. Jen averages 8 PPG, 5 RPG and is shooting 51% of her 2s and 42% of her 3s. Ellie is averaging 5 PPG and 3 RPG. The recognition of those players means all five of our starters are on the All-Conference teams!
2019 Cactus Jam Tournament Champions
The Varsity team traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to participate in the 20th anniversary of the Cactus Jam, December 26 - 31.
Participating in the upper-level Cactus division, we won our first game 60-44 against Oregon's North Marion Huskies on Friday, December 27th (see highlights). In our second game on Saturday against Tahoma Lady Bears (Washington) after being down by 10 in the first half, our defense tightened, and we ended up winning 58-55 (see highlights). Junior Sophia Liesse led the team with 19 points.
The Kangs won the Cactus Division championship on Monday, December 30th defeating Riverside (British Columbia) 62-51 (see highlights). Several players stuffed the stat sheet. Sophia Liesse had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks; Sophomores Rosa Smith had 8 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals and Elise Hani had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks.
In addition to the winning the championship, Sophia was named tournament MVP and she and Rosa were selected first team all-tournament.
Participating in the upper-level Cactus division, we won our first game 60-44 against Oregon's North Marion Huskies on Friday, December 27th (see highlights). In our second game on Saturday against Tahoma Lady Bears (Washington) after being down by 10 in the first half, our defense tightened, and we ended up winning 58-55 (see highlights). Junior Sophia Liesse led the team with 19 points.
The Kangs won the Cactus Division championship on Monday, December 30th defeating Riverside (British Columbia) 62-51 (see highlights). Several players stuffed the stat sheet. Sophia Liesse had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks; Sophomores Rosa Smith had 8 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals and Elise Hani had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks.
In addition to the winning the championship, Sophia was named tournament MVP and she and Rosa were selected first team all-tournament.
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Junior Varsity KingCo 2A/3A Undefeated Champions!
The 2019-20 LWHS Girls Basketball Junior Varsity went undefeated in conference and only lost one game all year--to the 4A Woodinville JV team. After that first loss of the season, the Lady Kangs went on a roll with 18 consecutive victories and an average margin of victory of 29.7 points! While the JV doesn't have a post-season or playoffs we're looking forward to these outstanding girls undoubtedly making huge contributions as varsity players in the years to come.
Congratulations on a great season and a perfect conference record!
Congratulations on a great season and a perfect conference record!
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Our 2019-20 Program
If you would like to find out more about the team and players, you can download this year's program / guide at the link below. Past seasons' programs can be downloaded from the Booster Club page.
| 2019-20 LWHS Girls Basketball program (6 MB) |
What distinguishes a great player is her presence. When she goes on to the court, her presence dominates the atmosphere.
Lake Washington High School ● 12033 NE 80th St., Kirkland, WA 98033 ● Contact us @ LWHSGirlsBB@outlook.com