A team of reckoning.

A strong 7-0 start for the 1A Seattle Christian School girls basketball team wreaked havoc on a few teams in much higher classifications than themselves.

For instance, 3A Sumner on Dec. 29, with it 21-0 before Sumner scored, then 30-2 at halftime and, not much better in the end at 71-47.

Remember, that’s 3A vs. 1A. And, also drubbed by SCS were the Kentlake Falcons, a 4A classification team that’s going to likely have a pretty good season. The Falcons are 4-1 in the tough South Puget Sound League North now. SCS trailed Kentlake by two at halftime, 22-20. Then SCS went on to win by 14 points, 57-43, in that Dec. 23 contest.

So, with a strong season record, Kentlake beaten and beaten badly, and with a respectable Sumner team devoured, with a feather in the cap from dominating a 2A state-quality Steilacoom team, 59-45, on Dec. 9, this season already begs this question: Who can beat this SCS team in 1A?

“You saw my best team on the floor for one quarter (against Sumner),” said SCS girls coach Bob Kickner.

One quarter of blurring basketball, watching SCS destroy a team much bigger in classification than itself. Impressive? It was indeed.

“It is what it is,” said Kickner. “We want to be a team to reckon with at the 1A level.”

It looks like this Warriors’ bountiful bevy of basketball ladies do not have a weak link among their starting four, maybe five, players. OK, make it seven players for second-year coach Kickner to kick in and out of the lineup for a game with equal potency.

“I have five girls that can start a game but I have a couple other players, Mandy ZeBarth and Alyssa Abe, that could start too,” Kickner said.

And, likely, Abe and ZeBarth would start on any other team in the state at 1A. But not on this team in which Kickner has his two best players, likely a sophomore and freshman, along with a senior, Melissa Collier, who is also a big threat with the basketball.

“Those are my top three,” said Kickner.

Who leads in scoring?

“It’s been shared, Melissa (Collier) and Lexi (Peterson), and Katie (Collier) too,” said Kickner. He mentioned others, too, like Kara Kogle, who can step up and shoot the ball dangerously. She dropped in 13 against Kentlake, to note.

College recruiting words are about to come. So scheduling Kennedy next season is a fine thing to do for this SCS team’s top two players who are already getting looks from Division 1 schools. Any team with two D-1 players on one team is good enough to beat, or, at the very least, compete with anyone on the court.

“I expect her (Petersen) to get opportunities over at Division 1, and also coaches are looking at Katie Collier,” said Kickner. And Collier is a freshman and Petersen a sophomore.

Petersen plays point guard, dribbling the basketball down court smooth as butter. Collier is a post-up, turnaround, scoring post in the middle. She’s already playing that position with her 6-2 presence like she’s been there for a long time now, even though Sumner was only Collier’s seventh high school basketball game.

Petersen is smooth, as in what people say watching her play: “Oooh.”

“She’s very smooth, a very fluid player,” said Kickner. “She’s really fast in the open court and she is one of our team captains as a sophomore. And, with Katie, those two are very prolific players along with a strong senior class.”

Collier? What’s in that name? Actually, three names and it has a lot to do with the Warriors’ strong senior class. Melissa, 6-0, and Megan Collier, 6-2, are seasoned seniors on this special, and getting better, team. They are very strong seniors in their roles, having helped get the Warriors to the state tournament both their sophomore and freshman seasons.

Last year, the Warriors missed state by one game, losing to Vashon Island in districts. Let’s note this, Vashon is a team SCS will play at home Jan. 9 in what should be an early indicator of who’s the best in the Nisqually League as both likely will come in with undefeated records. That loss to Vashon, currently No.7 ranked (6-0), was without Katie Collier, to note.

“That should be a great game to watch,” said Kickner.

Three sisters starting for the Warriors, what’s that like?

“I love it,” said Megan Collier. “It’s really fun. Melissa and I have been waiting for quite a while. So nice to finally have her here.”