Reardan girls take first

REARDAN – The Screaming Eagles’ girls basketball team defeated Wellpinit 55-36 and Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) 43-38 to claim first place in the 76th annual Reardan Lions Club Christmas Tournament Dec. 28-29.

Reardan learned early in its game against Wellpinit that to have a chance of winning they must keep junior Danea Norman from scoring easy buckets. In the first half Norman scored 14 points, mostly from point-blank range on rebounded missed shots.

And shut her down, they did, limiting Norman to two points for the rest of the game.

“Coach Swannack’s pep talk at halftime made the difference,” Reardan eighth grader Chasyn Waters said. “He pointed out our mistakes and told us what we needed to do to play better. Also, Mackenzie (Bjornberg) worked hard against Norman. She didn’t let her get in our head and she shut her down.”

The 23-21 lead the Redskins took into the locker room at halftime disappeared in the second half because of Reardan’s trapping defense, that led to steal and breakaway baskets.

Over the last 16 minutes, the Screaming Eagles outscored Wellpinit 32-15 to turn the game into a romp that ended 55-36 in their favor.

Chasyn Waters was a spark plug for the Screaming Eagles, scoring nine points and grabbing nine rebounds.

Her sister Tenice Waters scored 16 points to tie Norman for the game’s highest point total.

Besides shutting down Norman in the second half, Bjornberg battled under the basket and scored 12 points.

Lillie Whitman hit two 3-point shots for six points.

To round out the scoring, Olivia Wicks and Rylynn Green each scored four points and Raegan Soliday and Kassidy Koch scored three and one, respectively.

“I think we won this game because of how encouraging coach Swannack and coach Sorensen were to us when we needed it,” Chasyn Waters said.

Reardan’s victory placed it in the championship game Dec. 29 against Lakeside, a first round winner over Lake Roosevelt.

In that game, not one player stole the spotlight for Reardan. Instead, several shined brightly as a well-balanced team equally shared in the 43-38 win.

Reardan’s Green and Lakeside’s Ayanna Tobeck provided the bulk of the scoring for their teams in a low scoring first half, which Lakeside won 18-17. If not for Bjornberg’s stellar play on defense, the Lakeside might have gone into the locker room with a larger lead. On three Lakeside possessions, Bjornberg stole the ball before the Eagles could get shots off. She also pulled down five rebounds limiting opportunities for put-back shots.

In the third quarter, Lakeside outscored Reardan 16-11 to take a 34-28 lead into the fourth quarter.

Chasyn Waters came to life in the fourth quarter. Her aggressive play helped the Screaming Eagle tie the game 36-36, with 4:20 left in the game. Twenty seconds later, she scored a basket to put Reardan ahead 38-36.

After Lakeside scored a basket to knot the game at 38, Tenice Waters stole the ball, was fouled and converted two free throws with 1:25 left. On Lakeside’s next possession, Tenice Waters came up with the ball again, dribbled into the lane and dished a nifty pass to Bjornberg, who sank the winning basket.

Green led the Screaming Eagle’s balanced attack with 12 points and six rebounds.

Bjornberg scored eight points and pulled down a game high 14 rebounds.

Chasyn Waters had nine points and six rebounds.

Tenice Waters scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds.

Kassidy Koch scored five points and had two rebounds.

Olivia Wicks scored two points to go along with a rebound, and Lillie Whitman was credited with one rebound and two steals.

“Our kids are buying into our system and it showed for four quarters tonight,” Reardan head coach Bob Swannack said. “Our system beats talent. When they run it and do what I ask, they are unbeatable, really.”

“Defensively, we were very good in the half-court in the second half, but I had to get out of our press because we were gassed from playing two games back-to-back.”

Swannack was especially impressed by Bjornberg’s and Green’s play during the tournament.

“Mackenzie battled in the post in both games. She is ‘steady Eddie’ for me, and Rylynn Green stepped up on both ends of the court. It was her best game all year.”

The win improved the Screaming Eagles’ record to 6-4. With the loss, Lakeside’s record is 8-1.

Reardan’s next two games are Friday, Jan. 5 at Asotin and Saturday, Jan. 6 at home against Lind/Ritzville/Sprague.