Hermiston's Shoni Schimmel takes the hand-off from Jessica Rowan Wednesday during the Bulldogs' 51-46 win over Corvallis at the class 5A state basketball tournament in Portland. <i>Staff photo by E.J. Harris</i>

PORTLAND – A year ago Shoni Schimmel was practically an unknown entering the Class 5A tournament, a freshman rumored to be among the best players in the state, but mostly unseen by teams on the west side.

After an 18-point, 10-assist performance against Jefferson in a quarterfinal loss, the buzz began to grow, and by the end of the tournament she was the tourney’s leading scorer (54 points) and a unanimous selection to the all-tournament team.

The precedent was set – now Schimmel is digging in for another weekend to show her talents off on the big stage.

Though Wednesday’s opener was filled with frustration for her, including a fourth-quarter foul-out and only 25 minutes on the court, she left the game happy to be moving on in the winner’s bracket instead of repeating last year’s trip down the fourth-place road.

“I was never worried,” she said about watching seven minutes of the game from the bench. “I have faith in my team. Now we’re going into the semifinals, and we’re just going to have to go out there and get them.”

The sophomore admitted to being in a slump, and her 2-for-20 3-point shooting since the playoffs began is a testament to that. But one thing Schimmel doesn’t know how to do is give up, and she feels her game will get back on track soon.

“I feel like I’m due,” she said. “I just have to keep playing.”

The major difference between this year and last is expectations, as Schimmel knows what to expect from the Chiles Center and the arena’s spectators have certain expectations of her. Hermiston entering as the No. 4-ranked team in the state brings extra attention, and last year’s question mark hopes to become an exclamation point at the end of this season.

Wilsonville coach Cindy Anderson, who’s Wildcats ended last season with a loss to the Bulldogs, said at halftime of Thursday’s Hermiston game her team was looking forward to getting another chance to try and stop Schimmel.

“She’s a great player, but I think we can handle her” the coach said. “We’re playing very well right now and we don’t care who we’re playing against.”

The teams met up in December, but Schimmel didn’t take the court for Hermiston.

Anderson also brought up the play of her own point guard Melinda Ingalls, who was two assists and three rebounds shy of the rare quadruple-double in her quarterfinal game against Crater. When Schimmel meets Ingalls Friday, it will be a match up of two different league’s players of the year fighting for a title game appearance