Anchorage Daily News

Jazzie Gaddy had a good feeling when she arrived at West High on Saturday for the girls basketball championship game of the Cook Inlet Conference Tournament.

All it took was looking into her teammates eyes to know the T-birds would win.

And that's exactly what happened.

Backed by Gaddy's monstrous double-double and a lights-out shooting performance, East gunned down the top-seed and regular-season champion Chugiak 55-36 in the title game.

"I knew we were gonna win," Gaddy said with a smile. "I knew the team was ready tonight. We all wanted it."

The 5-foot-10 Class 4A player-of-the-year candidate might have wanted it more than anybody. Gaddy delivered game-high totals of 19 points and 15 rebounds to power the No. 2 T-birds to their third CIC title in four seasons under coach Dorena Bingham.

Even better for the 20-7 T-birds was that they avenged consecutive losses in the regular season to the 18-7 Mustangs, who nearly ran the table in the conference with only one loss in 14 games.

But East has been on a nice little run of its own, winning eight straight games since a 39-35 loss at Chugiak on Feb. 13.

"When you go on a run, you want to get your wins late in the season," Bingham said.

The T-birds appear to be hitting their stride and getting better with each game. They are noticeably improved since that last loss to the Mustangs, evidenced by their impressive 55 percent shooting against a scrappy Chugiak team.

East made 20 of 36 field goals (56 percent), including 11 of 18 in the second half to fuel a 30-16 run. East steadily improved throughout the game, scoring more points in each successive quarter.

Juniors Jordan Martin and Clare Kreilkamp keyed a 9-1 spurt early in the fourth quarter that put the game away.

The 5-foot-7 Martin (17 points) is a fearless driver on dribble penetration, throwing herself into defenders and welcoming contact in an effort to get to the line. She thrived at the free-throw line, too, draining 9 of 10 attempts.

"We had nothing to lose," Martin said. "Every other time we played Chugiak we haven't played our best, so tonight we came out fired up because we wanted it more."

Chugiak shot well to begin the game but finished at 32 percent and managed just five points in the fourth quarter. Ashley Finch led the way with nine points, while five of her teammates collected between four and six points.

Normally a reliable long-range shooting squad, the Mustangs struggled against the T-birds and missed 7 of 9 three-pointers.

"We've been working on our defense since the last time we played them," Martin said. "We're better as a team now. That kind of helps."

In the third-place game, South knocked off Dimond to claim the conference's third and final berth to the state tournament. Dimond was the defending state champion, and its loss guaranteed a new girls team will sport the crown this year.

It's also the first time South has qualified for the state tournament in three seasons since opening its doors. First-year coach Ryan Hales has guided the Wolverines into history.

"I thought we've stepped up," Hales said. "We know it's championship time."

The fourth-seeded Wolverines (14-10) had three players reach double digits, with Kelly Gamblin netting a game-high 16 points, Liza Spano scoring 13 and Alex Brewster came off the bench to deliver 11.

Brewster, a freshman, also grabbed six rebounds to continue her consistent post work.

"The last four games, she's averaged 10 to 12 rebounds," Hales said. "She's really made that her focus, and she's come up with some big boards."

The No. 6 seed Lynx finished the season at 10-15. Carolyn Savage and Tara McAdoo each scored 10 points. McAdoo grabbed 11 rebounds and Maria Davydenko had 10 rebounds.

Saturday was the fourth meeting of the season for the two teams, with each side winning twice.

"We didn't really have a lot of surprises," Hales said. "It came down to whose night it was."

Daily News reporter Van Williams can be reached at vwilliams@adn.com or 257-4335.

Cook Inlet Conference

Championship

EAST (55) -- Kreilkamp 10, Jackson 3, Martin 17, Gaddy 19.

CHUGIAK (36) -- Watzke 4, Finch 9, Sayer 2, Clifford 4, Jennings 4, Weiss 2, Schwenne 5, Murphy 6.

East 12 13 14 16 -- 55

Chugiak 11 9 11 5 -- 37

Third Place

DIMOND (41) -- D. DeGuzman 4, J. DeGuzman 4, Wilson 3, Savage 10, McAdoo 10, Liggon 2, Davydenko 6, Adams 2.

SOUTH (49) -- Brewster 11, Mahan 3, Gamblin 16, Spano 13, Bryant 2, Oestgaard 4.

Dimond 7 13 9 12 -- 41

South 13 13 11 12 -- 49