WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Grays Harbor 69, Olympic 49
The Grays Harbor college womnen’s basketball team clamped down on defense and got another big game from Sandin Kidder to earn a 69-49 victory over Olympic at home on Saturday.
Kidder paced the offense with 20 points and came up big on the boards with 10 rebounds in the Chokers’ third-straight victory.
Grays Harbor’s offense got off to a slow start in the first quarter but Kidder kept her team afloat by scoring the first six points.
Despite some inconsistent shooting, the Chokers found success running the floor and getting to the rim in transition.
“We were kind of in and out of sync in the half court but our transition offensive kept at it,” said Chokers head coach Chad Allan. “In the second half we were able to pull away a little bit because of the transition game.”
The Chokers ended up with a 30-22 lead at halftime thanks in large part to a Grays Harbor defense that had nine steals at the break.
Allan said the full-court pressure his guards applied made it difficult for Olympic to get set up in the half court.
“We were active today and I think people were moving their feet and rotating and the helped us limit some of their second shots,” he said. “At the same time, we put pressure on them and forced them to speed up the game and rush a few shots.”
Grays Harbor’s Carina Mendoza, left, drives the lane from the top of the key in third quarter against Olympic. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
In addition to the full court press the Chokers employed for much of the game, Grays Harbor also found success defending shots from the perimeter.
The Rangers shot just 1-21 from beyond the arc and didn’t hit their first 3-pointer until the fourth quarter.
With the Rangers struggling to hit jumpers, the Chokers got a strong rebounding effort from Armonnie Byrd, who grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with her 10 points.
With the Chokers having two weeks off until they play again at the Clark Crossover Tournament on Dec. 14, Allan plans on fine tuning a little bit of everything before the next game.
“We’re still trying to improve on everything,” he said. “We’re still trying to find out which defenses and offenses work well with us. With nine freshmen, we’re still trying to gel but the energy was there tonight.”
GHC 15 15 16 23 – 69
Olympic 11 11 11 16 – 49
Top Players: Kidder (22 pts., 10 rebs), Byrd (10 pts., 13 rebs. 4 stl), Keeley Teel (9 pts., 7 rebs., 5 stl.)
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
Willapa Valley 64, Northwest Christian 6
Willapa Valley shutout Northwest Christian in the first and third quarters on its way to a dominant 64-6 win over the Navigators on Saturday in Lacey.
The Vikings ran the press and frustrated a young Navigators team while getting points in the transition game.
Halee Layman led a balanced scoring effort for the Vikings with 12 points on a night where every Viking put points on the board.
“Northwest Christian is a really young team and we were able to press them early and get some transitional baskets everyone got to play and everyone got to score,” Vikings head coach John Peterson said. “That was a nice team win for us.”
Hannah Cook also came through with a well-rounded game with nine points and four steals.
The loss moves Northwest Christian to 0-3 on the season.
The Vikings (2-0) will take on the Hyaks in North Beach on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
NW Christian 0 4 0 2 – 6
PWV 26 17 12 9 – 64
Top Players: Layman (12 pts.), Cook (9 pts.), Brittany Patrick (3 asst., 4 blks.)
South Bend 51, North Beach 11
South Bend’s defense allowed no more than five points in any quarter as the Indians moved to 2-0 on the season with a 51-11 win over North Beach on Saturday.
Karley Reidinger led the Indians with 13 points and seven rebounds as South Bend outscored North Beach 16-3 in the first quarter and held a 23-point lead at the half.
South Bend made 19 of 61 shots as a team while North Beach was a woeful 4-for-40.
“Our intensity and effort was great from the start,” Indians head coach Gary Wilson said. “Defensively, the girls were focused. The transition game, set up by a strong defense, played a big part of the game.”
The Indians had a balanced-scoring night where eight different players got on the scoreboard. In addition to Reidinger’s 13 points, South Bend got eight points apiece from Hannah Byington and Alise Rohr. Jessica Sanchez added five points and seven rebounds for South Bend.
North Beach was led by Skyler Langston, who scored four points for the Hyaks.
North Beach 3 5 3 0 — 11
South Bend 16 15 12 8 — 51
Top Players: SB — Reidinger (13 pts., 7 reb.), Byington (8 pts., 4 stl.), Zaira Medina (6 pts.), Sanchez (5 pts., 7 reb.); NB — Langston (4 pts.)
Taholah 41, Seattle Lutheran 35
Denise Curley Bear scored 15 points to lead the Taholah Lady Chitwhins to a hard-fought 41-35 victory over Seattle Lutheran on Friday in Seattle.
“The keys to the game were the play of the entire bench, their hustle and unselfishness,” Taholah head coach Fred Pope said. “This was an entire team effort that allowed us to get the win in our first game.”
Nettia Mall had 10 points and Makeah McCrory added seven points for Taholah.
