DARRINGTON — The Darrington girls basketball team beat one of its biggest rivals earlier in the season but Tuesday night’s counted a little more.
The Loggers’ second win over the Braves — a 52-33 victory — counted in the league standings and they reached the halfway point of its league schedule undefeated. Rebounding by Monica Franke and Jordyn Stafford and clutch shooting by Railynn Ford and Baleigh Rumsey were two keys to the win. The Loggers are undefeated in the Northwest 1A/2B and well on their way to achieving their goal of a league title and the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs.
“They didn’t get a whole lot of second chances off the boards,” said Darrington head coach Jeff Anderson. “Stafford and Franke controlled the board for us.”
A quick start helped keep La Conner at bay. “We came out firing on all cylinder’s early,” said Anderson. “Offensively we hit some shots quickly.”
The defense also came out hot, holding La Conner to just three points in the first quarter. The Braves did chip at the lead before halftime, but adjustments by the Loggers in the locker room soon had them stymied again.
“In the second we lapsed a bit. They did a lot of screening. … We talked a lot about their screening at halftime. We didn’t have that problem the rest of the way,” said Anderson.
The Logger’s offense was consistent. They scored exactly 12 points in each of the first three quarters and 16 in the fourth. No one player ran up the score, rather it was spread out scoring and clutch shots that stopped the Braves from ever really getting back into it.
“Rumsey only scored three, but it was really big,” said Anderson. “It was a shot to the heart for them. It kind of sunk their battleship when she came out and hit that shot.”
The shot he was referring to came in the forth quarter after La Conner made a run and was threatening to make it a game. Rumsey got open on a screen and hit a 3-pointer to end the rally.
Ford sealed the deal, scoring all of her eight points in the fourth quarter.
“Between the two of them they definitely put the nail in their coffin,” said Anderson.
Anderson has high hopes for Darrington this year after the team did well last year starting quite a few sophomores.
“The maturity level with these girls this year has a lot to do with the playing time last year. It is really paying off now.”
At Darrington H.S.
La Conner314610—33
Darrington12121216—52
La Conner—Novak 0, Christianson 2, McClung 6, Reynolds 4, McKnight 11, Stewart 2, James 8, McCormick 0. Darrington—Railynn Ford 8, Casandra Cousins 12, Breanna Valencia 0, Riley Anderson 5, Devan Wilson 0, Emmarae Reuwsaat 0, Baleigh Rumsey 3, Amy Miles 14, Monica Franke 2, Madison Schoneman 0, Jordyn Stafford 8. 3-point goals—McKnight 1, Rumsey 1, Miles 1. Records—La Conner 3-2 league, 11-3 overall. Darrington 4-0, 14-2.
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