Screaming Eagle girls hold off Asotin

REARDAN - For the first time this season, the Screaming Eagles girls basketball team won back-to-back games with a 45-41 win over Asotin on Friday, Jan 20.

Coming off a big win against Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Harrington/Washtucna three days earlier, Reardan's late season surge sent the Panthers back to Asotin with their ninth league defeat.

Tenice Waters sparked Reardan's offense in the first quarter, scoring 7 of her team's 15 points. Liberty Anderson tossed in 4 points as the Screaming Eagles took a 15-9 lead after one quarter.

Emotions ran high in the second quarter. Becoming testy and following a warning, Asotin Coach Kaiti Whitmore was given a technical foul for arguing with the officials.

Following her example, the Panthers played more aggressively, matching Reardan bucket-for-bucket.

"I'm really proud of my girls," Whitmore said. "We didn't let the refs get in our heads."

Reardan led 25-20 at intermission.

In the third quarter, five Screaming Eagles scored 2 points each and Anderson scored 4 points, enabling Reardan to jump to a 39-27 lead.

In the fourth quarter Asotin outscored Reardan 14-6, but fell short as Reardan held on for the 45-41 victory.

Eighth-grader Waters put together her best game of the year.

Besides leading all scorers with 15 points, she pulled down 11 rebounds and had seven steals.

"In the first quarter, we were blazin'," Waters said. "We wanted this win more than anything. When I left the game with fouls, Liberty (Anderson) became the leader and took care of us.

"I'm so proud of all my teammates."

Anderson grabbed four rebounds and made two steals to go along with her 9 points. Rylynn Green, Liz Bell, Jaylee Abrahamson and Emma Flaa, scored 6, 5, 3 and 2 points, respectively.

Reardan senior Lana Shevchenko suited up for the first time this season after rehabilitating an ACL tear. She scored 4 points and recorded four rebounds and two steals.

Elskamp led Asotin in scoring with 10 points.

"I thought we did a good job attacking the middle and creating open shots for our guards," Reardan Assistant Coach Alisha Sorensen said. "Tenice Waters really played well. She can break a defense down and create opportunities for her teammates. Rylynn (Green) worked her tail off tonight and Lana (Shevchenko) deserves a lot of love.

"She worked 13 months to rehab her body so that she could play. Hopefully, this game will give us the momentum to finish the season strong."

Reardan improved its league record to 5-6. The loss dropped Asotin to 0-9.