Supremacy on defense defused the opposing attackers in a 33-19 Class 3A Foster nonleague girls basketball triumph against visiting Class 1A Cascade Christian of Puyallup on Wednesday.

“Both teams turned the ball over often,” described Bulldog head coach Richard Lewis. “We were able to turn them over more.”

With  a multitude of fouls added to the mix, Foster (3-4) and Cascade Christian (5-4) earned good looks at the basket when able to clear halfcourt. Finishing the offensive plays with scoring proved to be particularly elusive.

Amidst these elements, the Lady Bulldogs still managed to score the first six points of this sometimes strange game before the Lady Cougars rallied to trail only 7-5 after the first quarter.

Poor free throw shooting (3-for-8) kept Foster from extending its lead further. This theme would surface frequently in the fracas.

Opening the second quarter, sophomore guard Chris Balansag stepped up to nail down a three-pointer for Foster.  As turnovers continued to command center stage, Cascade Christian plodded within 10-8. Sahara Hill drove into the key for a field goal and then converted two free throws in front of Neta Tapealava’s rebound basket to build a 6-0 Bulldog charge and a 16-8 margin.

After nearly six minutes Kaycee Creech’s field goal ended a Cougar scoring drought to close out the first half with Foster leading 16-10.

Foul shooting again held Foster back.

Hill canned a free throw ahead of a Tapealava put back basket to start the second half before both squads squandered chances and went on scoring sabbaticals the rest of the muddling third quarter. Following a Destiny Beasley three-point goal for Foster at the start of the fourth quarter, Cascade Christian faced a 23-10 deficit.

Renee Qualls and Creech fired up the Cougars to trim the Bulldog advantage to 26-18 as 2:21 showed on the scoreboard clock. At this point, Bianca Benavidez converted a driving lay up in front to Beasley’s back court steal and lay up to extinguish any Cougar hopes of a miracle comeback.

“When we switched from a zone press to a man-to-man press, they weren’t able to handle the pressure,” concluded Lewis. “Defense was the key. All our starters from last year graduated, so we depend a lot on our sophomores. Without fall ball and summer league experience, these girls are developing chemistry.”

Due to the dreadful shooting percentages, no individual players scored in double figures. Foster shot 9-for-51 from the field and 13-for-30 from the charity line to reflect the issues both squads faced.

Beasley and Bianca Benavidez of Foster scored nine points apiece to tie for the game high. Benavidez converted 5-of-9 free throws as part of her seven fourth quarter scoring points. Hill added eight points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 3:27 left in the game.

Tapealava scored five points, but recovered a valuable 16 rebounds - eight offensive and eight defensive.

Qualls scored eight points and Creech seven points for Cascade Christian.