Reardan girls win one, drop one

REARDAN – After scoring only 14 first-half points, the Screaming Eagles girls basketball team found its shooting touch and defeated Wellpinit, 40-30, in their first game of the Lions Club Christmas Tournament on Thursday, Dec 29.

Scoring only 4 points in a quarter normally does not bode well for a team's success, but that was all Reardan could muster in the first quarter. Fortunately for them, Wellpinit didn't do much better.

They scored 7 first-quarter points. Both team's tepid shooting resulted in Wellpinit leading 16-14 at the intermission.

"At halftime, coach saw us with our heads down and said, 'Hey, you have to pick it up,'" Reardan's Tenice Waters said. "He encouraged us to come out and hustle more."

In the second half, Reardan tightened its defense and controlled the boards.

Emma Flaa pulled down 10 rebounds, and Liberty Anderson and Justine Flett each grabbed seven more.

The Screaming Eagles' shots fell too. Anderson's 3-point shot put them in the lead 20-17. From there, Waters took over, scoring 10 fourth-quarter points and getting four steals.

"Defensively, we caused them a lot of fits," Reardan Coach Bob Swannack said. "This is the first time I thought our players were in better condition than our opponent. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well but on defense, we caused enough chaos to have some success.

"We boxed out for the first time this year. Little things matter."

Waters finished the game with 14 points and Anderson and Flett each added 5. Marissa Seyler led Wellpinit with 10 points.

"We really wanted this game," Waters said. "Our coaches have had us running in practice and I think we're finally in shape. Emma Flaa hustled the entire game and made a big difference for us."

The Screaming Eagles win put them in the championship game against Lake Roosevelt on Friday, Dec. 30; the Raiders won 47-33.

After Reardan's big win the night before, Lake Roosevelt proved too big.

Despite Flett and Anderson's combined 12 first half points, the Raiders went into the locker room leading 27-15.

Liz Bell, Kassidy Koch and Flett accounted for five, 3-point shots in the second half, but that was all the offense the Screaming Eagles could muster before falling 47-30.

Anderson led Reardan in scoring with 15 points. She also pulled down 6 rebounds and had two steals. Bell and Flett scored 9 and 3 points, respectively. Waters grabbed 9 rebounds for the Screaming Eagles.

Lake Roosevelt's Carly Neddo led all scorers with 16 points.

The loss dropped Reardan to 3-6 overall. Its next game is at home against Colfax on Friday, Jan. 6.