Entering his second season as head coach of a Hazen team that finished fourth in the Seamount the previous year, not everyone took Jeff Bernhardt’s preseason claims of a state run seriously.

They should have.

Flash back to December. As he stood on Hazen’s court at practice he said, “My goal is to be playing on that first Wednesday in March. Districts is nice and it’s a great goal, but you can’t be satisfied with that.”

Flash forward to that first Wednesday in March. Where is Bernhardt now? At the Tacoma Dome, leading his team in the 3A state girls basketball tournament.

Hazen may have made a quick exit after two losses, but the point was made. In his second year with the program Bernhardt has the Highlanders trending up, one bold preseason statement at a time.

“We have a foundation to build on and we’ve raised the ball for this program,” Bernhardt said. “We expect to be back here next year and the year after that.”

In the first round, Hazen fell to Lakeside 35-32 in a defensive battle.

The Highlanders met Hanford in the second round and couldn’t buy a shot in the first half.

Yet, thanks for strong defense, the team only trailed by five points heading into the third quarter.

In the second half, it was all about Hazen freshman Airashay Rogers. Rogers scored all 14 of Hazen’s third-quarter points and willed the Highlanders into a 33-29 lead.

But the lead was be short-lived. Hanford took the lead back less than two minutes into the final period and never relented, winning 49-40.

While he would have obviously liked to advance further in the state tournament, Bernhardt said for a young team, this year was a success. And Hazen’s first state berth in 18 years? A “maraschino on a great season.”

Hazen started a freshman and a sophomore this season, plus the Highlanders only had three seniors.

Michelle Wnek, the starting sophomore, averaged 7.5 points, 2.0 blocks, 3.4 rebounds and a league-leading 5.8 steals per game. Her defense was a factor in every one of the Highlanders’ games.

Rogers was the starting freshman. Rogers led the team in scoring, at 19.3 points per game. She flashed the ability to take over a game — 14 points in the third quarter against Hanford at state, for example.

Rogers led the team in assists (2.3 per game) and was second in rebounding (6.3 per game) and steals (2.9 per game).