By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Quick starting offense and defense plus powerful performances under pressure laid the ground work for Nisqually 1A Seattle Christian's 38-34 girls basketball home victory against Pacific League 2B Life Christian Academy (Tacoma) on Tues., Jan. 6.

Clinging to a 30-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter, Seattle Christian matched points with Life Christian until the Warriors held a 34-32 margin with 3:50 remaining in regulation time.

Forty-two seconds later, Madelyn Weber assisted on an Abby Louie layup.

After a LCA made free throw, the teams traded turnovers until Kelli Ronish emerged from a pack of players to run the court and feed Louie for a layup that put the Warriors into a 38-33 lead as 48.3 seconds showed on the game clock.

The tough Seattle Christian defense held up until the end.

Louie recalled the play and her ability to convert three-pointers.

"Kelli made an amazing pass," said Louie. "I felt comfortable on my shooting. Coach Dave has confidence in me and gave me the green light. When I made my first three-pointer, I felt good."

Louie led all scorers with 13 points that included a trio of treys.

"Our guards did a good job of going against the press," said the hardworking Weber, who completed the game with 12 points while corralling eight caroms off the glass as well as blocking a pair of shots. "We just needed to slow down and keep possession. Our defense was great. What we need to work on are free throws and rebounding."

The Lady Warriors were 3 of 11 from the free throw line and edged out the Eagles 40-39 on total game rebounds.

Seattle Christian shot scoring salvos throughout the first quarter to overcome a 7-2 deficit.

With their regular varsity roster still devoid of key players, including an injury from their last game, the Warriors did well with who they had as experienced depth was thin.

Naomi Knipp started the SCS charge by sinking a free throw. Abby Louie stepped to swish two consecutive 3-point goals from the corners for a 15-10 Warrior lead at the 3:20 mark.

An aggressive Kelli Ronish nailed a runner and a long bank shot to forge a 19-12 SC lead later in the quarter before dropping home a 10-foot jump shot to send the Warriors into the second quarter with a 21-13 advantage.

"Coach Casey (Ribera) made a nice offensive adjustment," said Seattle Christian head coach Dave Jansen. "Madelyn and all the girls executed it well to open the offense."

Abby Louie sandwiched an outside goal and 3-pointer around two LCA free throws by Katie Anderson to balloon the Seattle Christian control to 26-15.

Suddenly, the tide turned in favor of Life Christian.

After the Warrior defense had contained its opponents well while protecting the ball on offense, they stopped attacking.

The Eagles began to force turnovers and take charge of the pace while running off 11 consecutive points to trail by only 26-24.

Weber came to the rescue two free throws and a rebound basket wrapped around four Life Christian points to keep SCS ahead by two points entering the fourth quarter.

"The girls probably got tired," concluded coach Jansen. "We only run seven or eight players deep, right now."

Kelli Ronish scored her game total of 10 points in the first half and contributed seven rebounds while Madisen Fors came off the bench to claim five rebounds and four blocked shots in nearly 29 minutes of play. Knipp scored three points.

Weber and Ronish were both on the floor for nearly 32 minutes of court time.

Life Christian was paced in scoring by Anderson, who had 11 points and seven rebounds. Courtney Youngblood added 10 points and nine rebounds.