Girls Basketball: Bearcats Crush Hawks in Opener

River Ridge had no answer for W.F. West’s full court press, and the Bearcats took full advantage in a 78-9 win in a nonleague girls basketball game Tuesday night in Chehalis.

W.F. West forced 17 steals with their pressure defense, led by Chloe Akins’ four steals. Julia Johnson and Kiara Steen each added three steals.

“I thought they played with a lot of energy. Gabby (Wade) is trying to build a program there, turn it around and trying to get it back to what it used to be at River Ridge,” W.F. West coach Tom Kelly said. “...They were a little outmanned tonight, but we played with a lot of energy and we made them look bad. With all that energy, the foot speed and our defense, I don’t care what defense we played, it was good.”

Steen led the Bearcats with 17 points and five assists. Madi Haakenson scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Erika Brumfield added 14 points and seven rebounds.

W.F. West took a few minutes to get its offense going in the first quarter, but the defense barely allowed River Ridge to get past half court and helped the Bearcats take a 17-0 lead after a quarter.

The Bearcats poured it on in the second quarter and outscored River Ridge 36-2 en route to a 53-2 halftime lead. W.F. West outscored River Ridge 25-7 in the second half to cruise to the win.

The offense had a lot of easy baskets, but the Bearcats will look to improve their half court offense and free-throw shooting (16 of 29 on Tuesday) in the next game.

“Not great, but it wasn’t bad, I’d give them a B-minus probably,” Kelly said. “There wasn’t a lot of opportunities to do that because we’re pushing the ball. We told them to pull it out in the second half, but it’s kind of a mindset.”

W.F. West (1-0) is back on the court on Saturday, traveling to face Burlington-Edison in a nonleague game. Burlington-Edison finished second in the State 2A tournament last March, while the Bearcats finished third.

Warriors Falter Late in 46-43 Loss to Eatonville

ROCHESTER — The Warriors got off to a strong start, but Eatonville caught up late to bump Rochester 46-43 here Tuesday in nonleague 2A girls basketball action.

The Warriors led 13-6 after a quarter and 25-18 at halftime.

“They just got exhausted. We broke down a little bit; we got tired and ran out of gas,” Rochester coach A.J. Easley said. “We decided we were going to press all night and it worked really well for 2 ½ quarters, and then they got tired, and they’ve got a stubborn coach who won’t pull them out of it.”

Samantha Swartout scored 21 to lead Eatonville, including 16 in the third quarter. The Warriors put freshman Madison Bates on Swartout in the third quarter, when the senior guard was held to 3 points.

Bates, Easley said, was a bright spot in her first varsity game with 12 points.

“She shut her down, for the most part,” he said.

Paige Winter led the Warriors with 16 points and 15 rebounds, and Hunter Hahn chipped in 6 points.

Rochester (0-1) hosts rival Tenino on Thursday.

Vikings Take Down Timberwolves

RANDLE — Mossyrock outscored Morton-White Pass 16-7 in the second quarter, which was the difference in the Vikings’ 41-33 win in a nonleague girls basketball game here on Tuesday.

Lainee Grose led Mossyrock with 17 points and Stephanie Fried added 10 points. MWP’s Hannah Smathers recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Sierra Dotson added 8 points and 11 rebounds.

“It was a good, tight game in the first quarter. We got in a bit of foul trouble and got out of man and went to a zone defense in second,” MWP coach Tom Griffith said. “(Lainee) Grose hit three 3s on us, and that was the difference in the game was the second quarter.”

Mossyrock led 25-16 at halftime.

The Timberwolves outscored the Vikings in the third quarter 10-9, and the fourth quarter was even as the Vikings held on for the win.

Griffith had a unique situation in the game, coaching against his oldest granddaughter, first-year Vikings coach Autumn Moorcroft, with his team playing against his youngest granddaughter, Paige Moorcroft.

“That doesn’t come along very often,” Griffith said.

Mossyrock (1-0) hosts Onalaska on Thursday in a nonleague game, while MWP (0-1) travels to face Orting in a nonleague game on Friday.