PORT ANGELES — With under 15 seconds left and the Port Angeles girls basketball team leading its final regular season game 38-35, Olympic Trojans star Ashli Payne fumbled a pass just inside the 3-point line on the left side of the court.
Roughriders junior point guard Maddy Hinrichs, who sprinted from the other side of the court as soon as the pass was thrown in Payne’s direction, dove on the ball before Payne could pick it up.
Payne, the Olympic League MVP, tried to rip the ball away, and when that was unsuccessful, the 5-foot-11 senior dove on Hinrichs.
The 5-foot-6 Hinrichs maintained her grip on the ball, a jump ball was called, and Port Angeles got the ball back.
Hinrichs has been selected as the All-Peninsula girls basketball MVP because of her entire performance in the 2012-13 season, but this one play — which lasted about 10 seconds — in many ways exemplified what made Hinrichs the best player on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Hinrichs put a lot of thought into her split-second decision to attack the ball, and the play went as she planned.
“I knew the possession arrow was in our favor,” she said.
“If we get the ball back, it helps us and stops them from scoring.”
‘Always thinking’
Riders coach Michael Poindexter said Hinrichs usually doesn’t need to be told what to do because she is prepared for most situations that occur during games.
“She is always thinking, always asking questions,” Poindexter said.
“She doesn’t want to rely on the bench for coaching.”
The play was an example of Hinrichs’ calmness, particularly in big moments.
“She’s always herself, she’s emotionally steady,” Poindexter said. “She isn’t going to flip out.
“That has a good impact on the team in close games.
“Her teammates aren’t going to say, ‘Oh, wow, we’re in trouble.’ They’ll look to her and say, ‘We’re OK.’ ”
Hinrichs, in turn, trusts her teammates.
She led the Riders in scoring with 11.4 points per game, but also led the team in assists and typically looked to pass before shooting.
“I like scoring, but you got to get them the ball,” Hinrichs said.
“Everyone on the team had success at different times this season.
“If I saw something working, I would go to it more often.”
Poindexter had so much trust in Hinrichs that he allowed her to call most of the offensive plays.
“Generally, I liked the tone of game she set,” he said.
“She had a good sense of how to attack, where to attack.”
Hinrichs is also valuable on the defensive end of the court.
This showed in her run-in with Payne, as well as in the pride Hinrichs takes in defending the opposing team’s best player, such as North Kitsap’s Rebekah Baugh or Bremerton’s Sawyer Kluge.
“I like it because if you can keep their best player form scoring, it helps your team out a lot,” Hinrichs said.
Finally, the tussle with Payne showed Hinrichs’ desire to win.
She went head-to-head with the league’s top player, who is much bigger than Hinrichs, for a loose ball at the end of a game that, in reality, had no impact on the standings because the Riders already had the Olympic League title wrapped up.
“She is intensely competitive, but she’s not out of control or flamboyant,” Poindexter said.
“Maybe the word I would use is gritty.”
And Port Angeles (17-6) won often, winning 15 of 16 Olympic League games — three games ahead of Olympic and Bremerton — placing third in the West Central District tournament and reaching regionals.
Hinrichs, who was named to the All-Olympic League First Team, might not have statistics that jump off the page like fellow first-teamers Payne, Kluge and Baugh, but she also doesn’t get overlooked.
“She’s establishing herself as one of the better players in the league,” Poindexter said.
“Other coaches we play notice her. She has a lot of respect from the people we play.”