Paige Winter scored a team-high 19 points and Centralia College women notched their third-straight victory with a 72-68 win over Blue Mountain in the annual Blazer Classic tournament Friday at home.
The Blazers trailed 19-11 early, later took a 37-31 lead, led by as many as 10 and held on for the victory in their opening game of the tourney. Blazer coach Caleb Sells credits his teams’ effective zone defense for preserving the win.
“The girls are getting better,” Sells said. “They’ve shown a lot of improvement.”
Shawnacee Davis added 18 points for the Blazers, Lexie Sederberg-Jones had a game-high 12 rebounds and Najahia Forks finished with 10 points off the bench.
Sells praised point guard Allison DeBerry, who played all 40 minutes, for single handedly breaking Blue Mountain’s full-court press the entire game.
“It was impressive,” Sells said.
Centralia College (3-3) played Umpqua at 6 p.m. on Saturday, then Shoreline at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
