LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. – “I think about my freshman year, not like we didn’t like each other, but we were just going out there,” Ridgeline Falcon forward Madilyn Crowley said. “But now, we went out there as a family, and we’re coming together and we have each others’ backs.”
A Cinderella story only requires two parts: a tough beginning followed through to a blissful end, and that’s exactly what the Ridgeline girl’s basketball program seeks in their fourth-ever season.
“I have three other girls that have been with me from the start, and we’ve all grown as people and as players in those four years,” Falcon guard Emma Myers said. “And it’s just been a long journey, but it’s been worthwhile.”
These seniors entered high school basketball at the same time as their own school and finished that season at 0-19, but now stand at 15-2 in their final campaign.
They’re coached by Freddie Rehkow, his first year with the girls after spending his last three coaching the boys.
“This year, we’ve just tried to help them take that next step, and I think that’s the big thing is helping them understand their full potential and we’re starting to see that they realize they have that potential, and we’re just trying to put it together,” Coach Rehkow said. “We still got a lot of work to do, but they’ve made a huge step this year.”
“It’s definitely been a different outlook on the game, he’s very mental and he uses his brain,” Myers said. “As he says, he plays chess, not checkers. So, he really thinks about things before he has us execute on plays or anything like that.”
The Falcons finished their home slate at a perfect 9-0, plus they ride a 14-game win streak, one fewer game than they’ve ever won in any season before.
“We push each other every day in practices, we don’t take it easy on each other,” Crowley said. “Not that we’re fouling, but we’re going hard, and we’re making each other better because we have a high standard for it and we know what we’re capable of.”
Ridgeline next travels tomorrow night to University, a team the Falcons beat two of three meetings a year ago.
With just three regular-season games to go, it’s time to see if the slipper still fits.
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
