TACOMA - After losing late leads in two close losses to Auburn-Riverside, the seventh-ranked Mount Rainier girls came out primed for vengeance in a 57-39 Class 3A West Central District III/Southwest IV Bi-District tournament demolition of the No. 2 Ravens on Friday, Feb. 18, at Stadium High School.

With the win, the Rams also guaranteed themselves a spot in the regionals of the state basketball tournament.

"We really just wanted revenge for the games we lost in league," explained Brittany McPhee, who hammered and jumped for 27 points, 15 rebounds and five assists. "We were well prepared after watching the video and seeing how they sagged on defense. Then, we decided to be aggressive."

Showing no fear, the Rams broke away from a slim 14-12 lead after one quarter. Freshman forward McPhee's foul line jump shot and rebound basket preceded Maylynn Mitchell's free throw in a 5-0 Mount Rainier salvo to open the second quarter.

Transition offense opened up the game more as the Rams controlled the boards while shutting off any semblance of Riverside inside offense. Amber Guillot, Bittany McPhee and Caroline Codd were wizards on the offensive and defensive ends of the court while point guard Jordan McPhee kept the up tempo offense in control for excellent passes when the fast break bucket was initially unavailable.

"We pushed it up," said McPhee, who scored eight points. "Then we slowed it down a little to get into our offense. I feel like we're getting better."

Mount Rainier kept the Raven shooters shaky and built a lead of 27-16 before entering halftime in a 27-18 control.

Once the Rams owned the lead, they kept the pressure on and were never threatened. The defense kept the normally formidable Ravens outside of the paint and forced hurried shots as well as uncharacteristic turnovers.

It was the youngsters of Mount Rainier who kept their poise, keeping Auburn-Riverside from mounting anything that resembled a challenge. When the pressure was on, it was the Ravens that buckled.

Keenly aware of a possible Auburn-Riverside run, the Rams opened the second half by continuing the disruption of the Ravens. Brittany McPhee scored 12 of the MR 14 third quarter points and with rebounding help from Kia Gandy and company doubled the lead to 18 at 41-23 heading into the fourth quarter.

On this night their would be no respite for the harassed Ravens.

Auburn-Riverside got no closer than 13 point while Mount Rainier eventually ballooned its lead to 22 points on two occasions by cutting up Auburn-Riverside for easy lay ups.

Senior Ram Caroline Codd notched 10 points, with four assists and five steals. Gandy earned seven points.

Kat Cooper (14) and Brooklyn Hinkens (10) scored in double figures for Riverside, but the majority of their points came after Mount Rainier had gained a 20 point lead."

"It's too bad we're not at the Tacoma Dome already after a game like this," said a truly pleased Mount Rainier head coach Bob Bolam. "This was awesome. It was great to beat a great team with pressure like that. My hat's off to them after playing a tough, physical team (88-50 against Mount Tahoma) on Tuesday night. It was a good game to beat a great team like Riverside."