SHORELINE — If the King’s girls basketball team released a highlight reel of their first eight games, there’d be no shortage of dazzling footage.
Or outtakes.
“It’s not pretty all the time, but they’re playing hard,” King’s coach Eric Rasmussen said following his team’s 55-39 non-conference win over Newport Jan. 3.
What the Knights lack in style and grace, they more than make up for with hustle and pace.
“It’s probably one of the quickest groups we’ve had,” Rasmussen said. “One through 10, we don’t drop off much from a defensive standpoint. A lot of them have been through the system and were getting a good feel for it last year. Now they’re getting more playing time.”
Rasmussen hasn’t hesitated to call on his reserves even when the score is tight and someone different seems to be stepping up each night.
In a 68-48 non-league thumping of Yelm during winter vacation, junior guard Clarissa Sather delivered a career-high 19 points off the bench to spark the Knights.
Against Newport last weekend, King’s got a much-needed lift defensively from senior Breyanne Nordtvedt and juniors Brooke Simons and Sarah Smart.
“Everybody seems to be playing eight to 12 to 20 minutes,” Rasmussen said. “We’re seeing a lot of kids with a fair amount of time and good contributions.”
The payoff is a 6-2 start by the four-time Chinook League champs. Since suffering back-to-back one-point losses the first week of the season, King’s has won five in a row.
Two of those victories were by more than 30 points and three came against Class 3A and 4A competition: Yelm, Newport and Shorewood.
“We probably played our best half defensively down at Yelm,” Rasmussen said. “The kids are starting to get it defensively. We’re doing a better job rotating, we’re finding people quicker.”
Sara Mosiman scored a game-high 18 points against Newport and Caitlyn Faidley added 14 for the Knights. Hayley Zevenbergen grabbed 12 boards to go with seven points.
King’s put the game away with a 17-3 third-quarter run. Newport’s only points of the quarter came from Brittany Duerr’s 3-pointer at the 5:10 mark.
Because the Knights are so deep at guard, Mosiman played some post early on. But Rasmussen later decided to move the 5-foot-9 sophomore back to point guard.
“She’s a pretty gifted basketball player and athlete. We’re trying to exploit her as much as possible,” Rasmussen said.
“We told her at the beginning of the year that she might have to pick up a bit of the slack in the scoring area. She’s become a little more offensive-minded, which has been real positive.”
Faidley also runs the point for the Knights and is matching Mosiman’s team-leading 12 points per game average.
With Faidley, Mosiman and a few other capable ball handlers on the floor at once, King’s has been able to control the tempo against most of its opposition. Rasmussen is still looking for the Knights to solidify their halfcourt sets.
“As you face good teams there’s always going to be times when you need to set up and run it,” he said. “We’re going to get a lot better at that.”
Games against Seattle Christian on Tuesday and Darrington on Wednesday were postponed due to this week’s snow fall.
But over the next two weeks, King’s will have the opportunity to test its offensive might in three quality non-conference contests.
The Knights face Class 4A Olympia Jan. 12 and Class 2A Cascade of Leavenworth Jan. 17 on the road before hosting Canadian power Riverside in their final non-league game Jan. 19.
“These are critical games for us right now,” Rasmussen said. “It’s a chance to get better.”
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