TENINO — Rainier used a 22- to 2-point second quarter to jump out to a 29-point lead at halftime over the Beavers to blow past the hosts, 67-50, here Thursday on senior night in SWW 1A League Evergreen Division girls basketball action.
Tenino coach Wanda Blanksma was proud, however, with the way her team performed to start the game.
“We started out great in the first quarter,” she said. “For most of the first, it was back and forth. And then we just didn’t take care of the basketball and things got away from us.
“They hit some 3s, some big shots, and things got away from us in a hurry,” Blanksma added. “And then it just seemed like that second quarter they just lit up and we kind of got wide-eyed.”
But Tenino did, however, outscore the Mountaineers 37-25 in the second half.
“We went into half down 42-13,” Blanksma said, “and came back and got it to 17. They played their hearts out.
“We just decided to become the aggressor on offense and make some things happen for us.”
Kaitlin Forest was the leading aggressor for the Beavers with 14 points. Others may have reached the double-figure plateau, but the team shot a dismal 6 of 24 from the charity stripe — compared to Rainier’s 15 of 23 (65 percent).
It was the final home game for Tiffany O’Brien and Adelle Love — whose season was shorted after sustaining a knee injury early in the season.
“Adelle was a big loss for us,” Blanksma reflected of her team’s 4-14 season. “But she continued to stay positive as a leader from the sidelines.”
And the coach said O’Brien was a hard worker, and a great kid.
“Both of them really provided a great example for the young kids,” she said. “I feel like our team, with injuries, and other challenges we faced this year; in the end they’ve made us better.
“The struggles we faced this year is gonna do nothing but help us out next year,” Blanksma added. “A lot of sophomores got lots of experience, and that’s only going to pay off down the road.”
Youthful Warriors Fall in Final Game
ROCHESTER — You couldn’t exactly call it senior night here Thursday night, in a matchup between the Warriors and Forks.
“It was senior night, but we’ve got no seniors,” joked Rochester coach AJ Easley.
But the youthful Warriors provided an early battle, before things got too out of hand in the 62-27 loss, as they were down 7-6 with 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
“I was very impressed with our girls,” the coach said. “We came out in our last game and said we were going to put it all out there, and we did. We pretty much played five girls the whole night.”
Only three scored, and Danielle Ruege tied for the game-high with 20 points.
“Danielle played exceptionally well tonight, scoring a majority of our points,” Easley said.
The loss warranted Rochester its 19th loss of the season — with no wins — but its coach has hope for what the future holds.
“We’re young, and I think that’s a positive thing that we are so young,” Easley said. “We don’t start any juniors, so we’ve got two more years with these girls to get better.
“They’ve shown the work ethic to want to get better,” he added. “I’m proud of these girls.”
