Girls Basketball | Riverside completes main goal

AUBURN — As disappointments go, this is one Katie Grad will probably overcome fairly quickly.

Grad, Auburn Riverside's high-energy senior guard, said the goal Saturday night was to hold her team's opponent, Sheldon of Eugene, Ore., to under 40 points.

The final score, a 69-48 Auburn Riverside victory to win the Navy Division of the eight-team Riverside Invitational, looks pretty convincing, though it doesn't fully reflect the Ravens' frantic domination of the first half, when Grad and her teammates built a 41-16 lead.

"Our defensive showing in the first half was good," said the 5-foot-8 Grad, who will play at Washington State next season. "In the second half, we let down a little bit. We can't do that. We can't have lapses like that in the state tournament. That's one of the weaknesses we have to work on. But we'll improve."

Grad scored 24 points and sophomore teammate Mercedes Wetmore added 17 as the third-ranked Ravens (6-3), the defending Class 3A girls state champion, looked impressive against their sixth consecutive out-of-state opponent.

Auburn Riverside closed the last four minutes of the first quarter on a 13-0 run to take a 21-6 lead after the first eight minutes. When Grad hit a three-pointer with three minutes left in the second quarter, the Ravens led 34-12. Their biggest advantage was 28 points early in the third quarter.

Luke Roth, coach of a Sheldon team that placed fourth in last season's Oregon state 6A tournament, called Auburn Riverside's full-court, trapping defense "relentless."

That, says Grad, is the idea. "That's what we like to do," Grad said. "It's our best type of game — the press, getting up into people and playing pressure defense.

"We're not the biggest team out there. We don't exactly have the 6-4 post (no one on the Ravens' roster exceeds 5-11), so we have to get it done in the backcourt. We've got a bunch of quick guards, and that's the type of game we like, an up-and-down game where we use the entire floor."

Rachel Givens sank two three-pointers for the Ravens and finished with eight points. Tami Brown led Sheldon with 15.

Other games

Lake Stevens 66, Jesuit (Portland) 50

Mary Ochiltree scored a season-high 25 points and was named MVP as the Vikings (8-0) won the four-team White Division championship of the Auburn Riverside Invitational.

Lake Stevens overcame a five-point halftime deficit by outscoring Jesuit (5-5) 43-22 in the second half. Alona Personius hit three of her four three-pointers in the last two quarters and finished with a season-high 19 points.

Personius, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, focused on softball as a junior and skipped a season of basketball. She entered the game averaging five points with a previous high of 11. Lake Stevens coach Randall Edens is glad to have her back.

"We kind of begged her to come out this year because we had a hole there," Edens said. "We've been waiting for this to happen. She's that kind of shooter in practice all the time. It hasn't happened quite yet [in a game] until today. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for her."

Personius says she's happy to be involved with her hoops teammates again. She was not quite sure how to explain her hot hand Saturday. "I don't know," she said. "I just started feeling a rhythm. And I love being with the girls again."

Jesuit, missing five graduated starters from a roster that was the runner-up in Oregon's state 6A playoffs last season, was led by Eastern Washington-bound Meaghan White with 15 points.

Snohomish 57, Buena (Ventura, Calf.) 48

Rebounding from a cold-shooting night that resulted in a tough three-point loss Friday, the Panthers (6-2) controlled this game early and cruised to the win.

Allison Burns led Snohomish, the state's ninth-ranked 4A team, with 15 points, basically doubling her season average (7.3 points per game). Katie Benson added 14 and Emily Guthrie put in nine.

Against Sheldon (Ore.) on Friday, the Panthers missed 10 three-pointers in the second quarter alone. "I thought we played well in both games in the tournament," Snohomish coach Ken Roberts said. "The difference was we didn't shoot well [Friday].

"We've had games earlier this year where we've been turning it over and not getting off a shot for four minutes, so we're getting better. But some days you're just not going to shoot as well. Today we executed and shot well."

Roberts says his team is still adjusting to the loss of point guard Ally Schmidt, lost before the season started because a knee injury. "I told people we'd be a lot better after Christmas, and I figure we'll be pretty good when it comes down to it in February," he said. "That's our goal, and I'm happy with where we're at."

Mallory Geske led Buena (9-7), which last season reached the state quarterfinals in California's large-school division, with 16 points.

Mount Tahoma 52, Moses Lake 49

The Thunderbirds outscored Moses Lake 16-7 in the third quarter and held on for the win, handing the state's No. 2 4A team its third consecutive loss. Shauniece Samms scored a game-high 18 points for Mount Tahoma and Carrie Ojeda added 16. Carly Noyes, a 6-foot-5 junior, led the Chiefs (6-3) with 17 points. Kelly Sutherland scored 14 and Jordan Loera added 10.