By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

The Seattle Christian Schools girls basketball team continues to hold a firm grip on success this season, staying undefeated. The 1A Warriors beat the visiting SPSL 3A Auburn Trjojans, 43-26, in a non-league matchup on Tuesday.

SCS improved to 8-0, overall, all non-league wins, with the first regular season game not until mid-January. The Trjojans dropped to 2-6, overall.

"Maddie had 17, that's nice," said Warriors coach Dave Jansen. "Sydney DeWitt only had nine for them. We did a good job on her."

Jansen was looking at the scorebook after the game and smiling. He liked the fact that senior captain Madelyn Weber scored 17 points which, incidentally, led all scorers. He, also, noted that the Trjojans' leading scorer, DeWitt, who came into the game averaging second most in the SPSL 3A seven-team, league, scoring 15.1 points per game, could only net nine against the Warriors' good team defense.
So that's a couple highlighted items there by the Warriors coach, whose team next ventures into competition against the Kentlake Falcons, a 4A school. The Falcons are now 7-2 overall, including 3-0 in the SPSL Northeast Division.

The Warriors' take on the visiting Falcons at 3 p.m. this Saturday, and the private Christian school will have its work cut out for it against the Falcons to maintain the excellence its shown on the basketball court to start this season.

"We are going to get a really good test against Kent Lake. They are a really solid program," said Jansen. "Win or lose, we are going to get better."

Jansen noted that the game with Kentlake is tradition now, having come to fruition from a former Falcons' players' dad, Chuck Stowell, having spearheaded a foundation for his daughter, Carly, who died suddenly, at age 14, in a 15U club game in a North Carolina b-ball tournament back in 2007. Stowell died of a heart condition, and she had, as a freshman point guard, led the Falcons to the 4A state tournament that previous 2006-07 high school season.

"We appreciate them putting us on the schedule," said Jansen. "It's nice to have this memorial in honor of Chuck's daughter. We've played Kentlake some really competitive games in the past, especially with the girls whose jerseys are now hanging on our walls."

"Walls" refers to the Warriors' gym walls, where former players, twins, Megan and Melissa Collier and younger sister Katie, who plays, as a sophomore 6-4 post at the University of Washington, have their jerseys memorializing their run to the 2009 1A girls state championship. And don't forget at least one other name, with that state title team's point guard, Lexi Peterson, who is a junior at the University of Oregon this season.

So, this Warriors' girls team is starting, anyway, to make its own history, with a strong start to the 2014-15 season. The way to the win over the Trojans took form early. Weber roared down the court on a Trojans' turnover, the first of many by the foe in this game, for a quick lay-up, then, made a free throw shot. Then freshman point guard Alexandria Ellis made a shot, making it a 5-0 start for the Warriors with two minutes off the 8:00 first quarter clock expired.

Continuing the first quarter, the Trojans broke to the positive on the scoreboard with a 1-for-2 stripe effort before Weber, again, scored close-in off another Trojans' turnover from solid team pressure defense by the Warriors. After a missed Trojans shot, Ellis hit another close-in shot and it was 9-1 Warriors with 3:00 left in the first quarter. The Trojans, however, scored on their next two trips down court and cut the Warriors' lead to 9-6. Another Ellis shot quelled that little run as she buried a three-ball from the right side, behind the arc, some 20 feet from the basket. That Ellis bomb upped the Warriors' lead to 12-6, and, that's the score the first quarter ended with.

The second quarter was more of the same kind of scoring for the Warriors with one exception to Weber and Ellis' basket success. And, that direction would be going to sophomore point guard, Kelli Ronish, who spells Ellis from that duty, at times, in a game, with both on the court at the same time a lot of the time. But, Ronish made a layup midway through the second quarter to stake the Warriors to a 22-9 lead. And Ronish made the final points of the second quarter that upped the lead to 24-12, Warriors, going into halftime.

"Alex and Maddie are our leaders, but Kelli Ronish has really stepped up along with Taelor (Willhoite)," said Jansen. "Those four have been really solid for us. Kelli's gotten more confidence this year offensively. She's handling the ball more, against tough pressure. Encouraging to see her coming into her own."

That's another thing that makes this Warriors' team tough, too. They effectively have three points guards, Weber, Ellis, and, Ronish, they all can handle the rock, dribbling the ball down court, seeing the floor. Then, they all can make distribution passes, entry passes, getting the ball to posts inside, or kicking it out to shooters on the perimeter.

"Nice to have," said Jansen, adding, 'They did have more points off us than I would have liked, off turnovers, but we will work on those kinds of things in practice. The girls earned a day off from practice tomorrow."

And the Warriors' turnovers in this game were mostly forced from the Trojans' good pressure defense.
The Warriors committed 14 turnovers in the game, but that was good in comparison to forcing the Trojans into 23 turnovers for the game, including seven in just the first quarter.

The Trojans, then, in the third quarter, started off stronger, getting the first two buckets to claw within eight points, 24-16. But, then, Weber scored for the Warriors to make it, 26-16. The Trojans press, then, caused a turnover, and, a foul, sending a girl to the line for 1-for-2 shooting. So, 26-17, Warriors, with 4:00 left in the third quarter. For the Warriors, that meant their lead was cut to single digits, with a lot of basketball still left to be played in this game.

"They were not going to give that game away," said Jansen of the Trojans' stubborness to try and stay in the game. "And, credit to their defense, they full court pressed us into a lot of turnovers. They did a press against us til the end of the game."

The Warriors were about to stretch this one out of reach for the Trojans, however, as senior captain Taelor Willhoite made a bucket off a rebound miss from a teammate, and, that made it 28-17, Warriors, with a minute left in the third. The third quarter ended, 31-17, Warriors, on 1-for-2 Weber shooting at the line to go with a made bucket prior off a foul.

"We try move it through her," said Jansen of Weber's role on the team, a big role. "She is our emergency point guard."

There was not an emergency in this game for Weber's use as point guard, as Ellis not only scored baskets, but in this game made several pinpoint passes inside to Weber and Willhoite, for scores. Include in Ellis' many assists, too, a couple long throws from one side of the court to the other to Weber, who caught the ball in stride, going in for uncontested layups. Ellis recorded a half-dozen assists in this game to go with 14 points, being the second leading scorer in the game.

The fourth quarter was more of the continuous, steady handle on this game for the Warriors, who, by quarters, outscored the Trjojans, 12-6, in the first quarter, 12-6 in the second, 7-5 in the third and then 12-9 in the fourth, to explain its constant grab of control on this game. It's biggest lead of the game was in the fourth quarter, 43-19, on a Willhoite basket with 2:00 to go in the game.

Willhoite sees this season as something that is going in a good direction for many reasons, and explained why its different than last season in which the Warriors did not make the playoffs, or the season prior, either, for that matter.

"Glue," although not "Elmer's," is a good reason why this team's gelling so well to start this season.
"Outside of school, we have team bonding events," said Willhoite, who is a 5-7 post player on the team.
Like?

"We go over to someone's house, stay up way too late, go get frozen yogurt," said Willhoite. "Nothing too fancy, we just spend quality time with each other."

And this team has four seniors, one junior, three sophomores and four freshmen. So, do the younger classes go on these outings or does it include just upperclassmen?

"No,this is the entire team, and, it includes not just all our varsity players but our JV is our future," said Willhoite. "It doesn't make sense to exclude them. We are all on the same team together."

But, really, what's the bonding do, besides, just make it so can get to know each other better?

"Basketball is a relational sport," said Willhoite. "If you can understand who the person is, that helps us on the court to be successful."

And, so the team is going in a good direction. Make that, a great direction.

"We've been blessed," said Willhoite. "We not only have incredible people on our team, we have incredible basketball players, which helps us come together as a team."

And, your coach, Jansen, where's he figure in all this?

"He is a present voice, tries his best to guide us in the right direction," said Willhoite, adding, smiling, some. "With the help of glorious assistant coaches."

Assistant coaches are Casey Ribera and Roy Fisher.

And Willhoite must see her role on the team as more than a rebounder and a good point scorer, too, but she did have six points and a half-dozen boards against the Trojans, and has been consistent with those kind of help numbers this season for her team.

"To be a voice, whether defensively, or to encourage," said Willhoite. "I work hard, but we all work hard. It's not like, after games, we are saying, 'Darn, I should have played harder.' We always leave everything on the court."

After Weber's game-high 17 points, Ellis scored 14, and Willhoite and Ronish finished with six points apiece.