Top-ranked Ellensburg girls have 'set the mission' - and kept on it despite unforeseen interruptions

YAKIMA - Look to the court and you’ll see why Ellensburg is the lone unbeaten girls team in Class 2A.

That lengthy defense limiting foes to barely 20 points a contest and serving as the catalyst for an offense that scores at a near-70-point-a-game clip is unavoidable.

Look to the sideline, though, and you’ll see the measure of the top-ranked squad.

There’s coach Jeff Whitney, who’s returned to the bench after a serious illness had him away. Then you have highly-touted junior post Olivia Anderson, who was out until the SunDome Shootout in late December because of illness, and now is sporting a walking boot. Oh, and don’t forget senior Kaelynn Smith, out all season aside from a choreographed layin earlier this week to honor her contributions.

Sprinkle in a few COVID delays, and the season could’ve been ripe for derailments if not for the focus of the close-knit Bulldogs.

Ellensburg improved to 18-0 on Thursday night, racing past East Valley, 63-19. The Bulldogs will try to cap a perfect regular season this weekend when Prosser and Othello visit.

"It’s been kind of tough but our team is so close in general it’s been easy for us to rally from each thing," senior guard Dylan Philip said. "We’re all super supportive of each other and that helps."

Philip paced Ellensburg with 16 points, nine of those in the second quarter.

"We set the mission at the beginning to where we know we’re going to face a lot of distractions and adversity this year," said assistant coach and former Central Washington standout Dom Hunter, who joined the team at the start of this season, and occupies the lead chair on the bench while Whitney works his way back. "No matter what we face, we have to stick together and be confident."

Ellensburg’s offense started slowly Thursday before – as usual – the defense took over. A 9-5 edge in the first quarter ballooned to 22-5 early in the second fueled by the Bulldogs trapping style.

East Valley scored six or fewer points in each quarter

"We’re a really fast team and we try to use that athleticism to pressure the ball because that’s our best recipe right now," Hunter said.

Jamison Philip added 15 points for the Bulldogs, and Katie Blume chipped 10, for Ellensburg which has inched up to No. 3 in the WIAA’s RPI less than four weeks until the state tournament.

Longtime East Valley coach Robi Raab said this Bulldogs squad could be one of the Yakima Valley’s all-time best, comparing Ellensburg to hall of fame coach Jack Cleveland’s Red Devils of the early 2000s that won back-to-back 2A titles in the SunDome

"Those teams were very long, a big group of kids with some height and shooters and could play defense really, really well," Raab said. "This team plays defense as well as those teams did, they’re impressive. They’re a lot of fun to watch … but I don’t really enjoy playing them."