KIRKLAND — In three days the Glacier Peak girls basketball team faced three Kingco opponents and walked away with three wins.
The Grizzlies defeated Ballard 58-51 on Friday to improve to 9-1 on the season.
Glacier Peak earned the victory behind a strong first half effort that held Ballard to just 15 points and the Grizzlies were able to hold on in the second half thanks to timely some timely shooting and key steals.
“We are a pretty talented team and I don’t know how many of the girls scored, I think most of them scored,” Grizzlies head coach Brian Hill said. “We are pretty balanced, so if they try to stop one of us another one is probably going to score. Our defense, we just tried to keep defensive pressure on them and wear them out.”
The Beavers attempted to make a run in the second half behind the performance of sophomore Cailey Beckett, who scored 19 of her 20 points after halftime.
But every time the Beavers made a run, it seemed the Grizzlies would come up with a big shot or a steal to extend the lead once again.
“When we got a little flat-footed, that’s how they made their runs,” Hill said. “But I think it is nice that we were able to come back and get a huge bucket and a big 3 here and a big 3 there.”
Taylor Rasmussen led the offensive attack for the Grizzlies, scoring 16 points, including three 3s. She also finished with five assists and four steals.
“She is not even our point guard, our main point guard Katie Hawkins rolled her ankle yesterday,” Hill said. “We had to make some small adjustments in the way our format was going to be, so Taylor ran the point. The ball is going to get swung around to her and back into her hands. It wasn’t her best shooting night, but I will tell you what, Ballard is kind of lucky because I think she can knock them down when she is on fire.”
Ballard had trimmed the Grizzlies lead down to seven with just seconds remaining in the third quarter, but Rasmussen hit a 3-pointer with just two seconds remaining in the period to give Glacier Peak a 10-point advantage going into the final stanza. She also added three clutch free throws and several steals late in the game to help clinch the win for the Grizzlies.
“We like to create some offense off of our defense,” Hill said. “I think we pride ourselves in defense.”
Nicole Fausey chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies.
At Juanita H.S.
Glacier Peak14121715—58
Ballard692016—51
Glacier Peak—Rasmussen 16, Gaffney 0, Hill 12, I. Smith 0, S. Smith 0, Gere 5, Mensing 4, Fausey 11, Manning 2, Weathersby 8. Ballard—Verduin 8, Sechler, 4, Ishiyanna 0, MacGeorge 4, Bailess 10, Soukup 0, Hall 3, Bender 2, Beckett 20. 3-point goals—Rasmussen 3, Verduin 1, Beckett 1. Records—Glacier Peak 9-1, Ballard 3-7.
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