MONROE – The Monroe Bearcats are a scrappy, bruising bunch. Their coach knows from experience.
“We’re pretty tough to reckon with,” Monroe girls basketball coach Alan Dickson said. “I’ve scrimmaged against them in practice and they’ve knocked me around.”
On Saturday night Monroe directed its aggression toward the Lake Stevens Vikings. The Bearcats bounced back from a woeful start and surged to a 55-41 triumph in a Western Conference North Division game at the Monroe gym.
Monroe didn’t score in the first six-plus minutes of the game and fell behind 8-0. But it kept fighting and recovered nicely to improve to 6-0 in division play and 7-3 overall. Keena Hopkins (12 points), Sarah Morton (eight points, eight assists) and Kayla Wangner (11 points) highlighted a balanced effort for first-place Monroe, which has won five straight games and seven of eight.
“We feel great,” said Wangner, a 5-foot-10 senior who provided a spark off the bench with her scoring and intensity. “We don’t want to lose. That’s why we stepped it up.”
Monroe put up at least three air balls early and was 2-for-14 from the field in the first quarter. But the Bearcats started hitting shots and outscored Lake Stevens 23-11 the rest of the first half.
“They just really kept their composure and they didn’t get down on themselves at all,” said Lake Stevens guard Mary Ochiltree, who scored 12 of her game-high 17 points in the second half for the Vikings (3-3 Wesco North, 5-5 overall). Lake Stevens has lost four of five.
Lake Stevens started well but went cold on offense and struggled at the foul line (1-for-8 in the second quarter). “We just let them hang in it. We missed so many easy shots in the first half and struggled on free throws,” Lake Stevens coach Randall Edens said.
Monroe made six 3-point baskets in the game. Hopkins and Brittany Matkins had two apiece.
Hopkins, a 5-7 senior, scored seven points in the second quarter, including both her 3-pointers. She helped Monroe outscore Lake Stevens 17-7 in the period and take a 23-19 lead to the break.
“Everybody was involved, even the people on the bench,” Wangner said. “We just had that flow. … We just had to get that fire lit.”
Once Monroe got hot, Lake Stevens faded. Monroe scored the first four points of the third quarter and led by 15 after Wangner’s lay-in late in the period.
Morton, Monroe’s University of Washington-bound point guard, got on a roll in the fourth quarter and piled up four assists. By then everything seemed to work for the Bearcats.
Junior posts Brittany Tri (6-foot-1) and Karri Gallagher (6-3) helped give Lake Stevens a major size advantage over Monroe, which didn’t have a starter taller than 5-11. But the Bearcats countered with other skills.
“We don’t have a lot of size,” Wangner said. “We use our strength and our speed.”
At Monroe H.S.
Lake Stevens127715-41
Monroe6171616-55
Lake Stevens: Ochiltree 17, Housden 6, Aanstad 4, B. Tri 6, Gallagher 6, Tate 2. Monroe: Morton 8, C. Drivstuen 9, Hopkins 12, Matkins 6, Wangner 11, E. Drivstuen 9. 3-point goals: Ochiltree 1, Hopkins 2, Matkins 2, Wangner 1, E. Drivstuen 1. JV score: Monroe 54, Lake Stevens 45. Records: Lake Stevens 3-3 in division, 5-5 overall. Monroe 6-0, 7-3.
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