SHORELINE — The race for second place in the Northwest B League is heating up and so are the Shoreline Christian girls.
The Crusaders carried a 3-1 league record and a four-game win streak into last night’s showdown with Mount Vernon Christian.
A victory would give Shoreline Christian a two-game edge over MVC and Snohomish County Christian School with three weeks remaining in the regular season.
“We’re getting to the point where we’re able to consistently do things,” Crusaders coach Stan De Yager said. “That’s a sign of a young team growing.”
Everyone on Shoreline Christian’s youthful, eight-player roster is contributing. Six Crusaders are averaging between four and nine points a game.
A balanced attack paced Shoreline Christian to three straight wins last week, including a 39-28 victory over Snohomish County Christian Jan. 16.
“We broke them down piece by piece,” De Yager said.
Allison Vanderwerff supplied a team-high 11 points, eight assists and six steals for the Crusaders. Rachel Visser scored seven of her 10 points in the second quarter to spark a 17-5 Shoreline Christian run.
The Crusaders ran into trouble dealing with SCCS junior Tara Holgate. The 6-foot-4 post collected 10 rebounds and eight blocks to go with 14 points.
“Where she presents some problems is when you’re driving the ball in the lane,” De Yager said. “You’ve got to adjust your shot.”
Freshman forward Julia DeKoekkoek’s career-high 18 points led the Crusaders to a 41-21 rout of Clallam Bay in a non-league contest Jan. 17.
Shoreline Christian went on to top Grace Academy 53-27 Tuesday night to improve to 6-7 overall. Vanderwerff’s 15 points paced the Crusaders, who built a 24-12 halftime lead.
Darrington is the lone Northwest B League team to defeat the Crusaders. The Loggers won their first five league games in convincing fashion and appear to have a firm grasp on first place.
“It’s going to take some great games to beat Darrington,” De Yager said. “There’s four other teams battling for that second spot. We should be right there. (Beating SCCS) was a good first step.”
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