Viewfinder: Woodinville High School's Girls Basketball

The Woodinville girls basketball team fell just short of playing in the 4A state championship game, but the Falcons still finished their season as the fifth-best team in the state of Washington.

Woodinville was thwarted in the semifinal round of the 4A Hardwood Classic by eventual champion Lewis and Clark. The KingCo 4A champion Falcons fell 47-43 in a contest that was close the whole way through and came down to the final 20 seconds. Woodinville battled through foul trouble that saw three starters foul out before ultimately coming up short.

A banged up Woodinville squad then fell to Chiawana in the third-place consolation game, settling for fifth in the 4A division.

It was a successful bounce-back season for the Falcons, who missed out on the state playoffs last season after finishing the season with four straight losses following a 20-1 start. Woodinville put together a 21-7 campaign in 2010-2011, including a late season 13-game winning streak before the final two losses.

Senior Melissa Gilkey led the team in scoring in 2010-2011, averaging 16 points per game to go along with 9.3 rebounds per contest. Gilkey was named to the 4A all-tournament first team.

Junior forward Ali Forde put together one of the better all-around season in recent memory, averaging 11.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game along with 4.2 blocks, 4 assists and 3.1 steals per game. Forde also shot 50 percent from the field on the year.

Junior guard Deidre Miller returned from a major knee injury to post a solid debut season for the Falcons, averaging 7.5 points per game, including 44 made three-pointers.  

Head coach Scott Bullock emphasized all year that the key to his teams success was "peaking" at the right time of the season. Despite the Falcons last two losses, it looks like Bullock got his wish.