Davenport subs gain experience in lopsided win

DAVENPORT – The Gorillas' girls basketball team improved their record to 8-1 after crushing Chewelah 50-27 in their NE2B matchup Saturday, Dec. 21.

For fifty seconds, Chewelah played even with the Gorillas. That was when the score was tied 2-2. Twenty seconds later, Samantha Stiles drove the lane for an easy basket and the rout was on. Davenport scored 32 straight points to put them up 34-2 at the end of the first quarter.

During the scoring spree, Glenna Soliday stole the ball six times and scored 13 points. Stiles scored eight points, Charlotte Soliday scored six points, Clare Lathrup scored four points and Alyssa Kruger tossed in two.

For the rest of the game Davenport's starters watched from the bench as head coach Stacia Soliday played mostly freshman. At halftime the Gorillas led 40-9 and ended up winning 50-27.

Glenna Soliday earned top scoring honors with 13 points. Stiles scored 11 points and had a game high 10 rebounds. Charlotte Soliday had six points, four rebounds and two steals. Fiona Strozyk had five points, three rebounds and two steals. Lathrup scored four points and blocked three shots. Kruger ended the game with four points and three rebounds. Addie Schneider had three points, four rebounds and one steal. Sawyer Raugust and Paige Van Buren both scored two points. In addition, Raugust had three rebounds and Van Buren recorded two steals.

Bindi Bennett led the Cougars in scoring with nine points.

"I think my teammates who normally don't get to play much, did really good tonight," Van Buren said. "One thing our team did well was getting a lot of steals."

She was grateful for the opportunity to play as many minutes as she did.

"I was proud of my confidence tonight," she said. "I got to do things I normally don't get to do, like dribble the ball down."

Though her team won by a large margin, Van Buren noted areas for improvement.

"We need to work on passing and coming to the ball because we had some passes stolen," she said.

Because of the lopsided score, coach Soliday felt the game benefited her younger players.

"We got to play some players who normally don't get into close games," she said. "It was a good opportunity for them to gain some experience. Paige (Van Buren) did a good job stepping in at point guard and Samantha (Stiles) had 10 rebounds."

The win improved the Gorillas' record to 8-1. Chewelah dropped to 0-7. Davenport's next game is against Waterville Saturday, Jan. 4 at 6:00 p.m.