![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
The West Linn Girls basketball team played its final game of the season March 10 against Central Catholic. The result was a loss to the Rams, 37-54, granting the Lions a fifth place finish in the State playoffs.
“We would have liked to go farther in the playoffs, but we are definitely happy with the result of fifth place,” Mikayla Kraemer, senior forward, said. “We went into it ranked eighth so we proved a lot of people wrong.”
After defeating arch-rival Oregon City in the third round, the Lions advanced to the semifinals to face Westview. The team would fall short of the State Championship, though, after falling to the Wildcats, 48-63.
“The highlight of the season was knocking Oregon City out of the playoffs,” Kraemer said. “That was the high point for us, and we were very emotionally charged after that game.”
With only five seniors on the Varsity squad graduating this year, the team will have a lot of young talent ascending through the ranks in the coming seasons.
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