TACOMA - Defending Class 2A champion River Ridge of Lacey capitalized in a big way on the short-handed Seattle Christian School girls basketball team to post a 59-16 verdict on Tuesday in the first round of the Girls' Northwest All-Stars Holiday Hoopfest held at Wilson High School.

With all-everything player Lexi Petersen (University of Oregon commit) out for the season with a torn ACL and starting point guard senior Carissa Doyle joining her on the sidelines after a season-ending knee injury in the Warrior's previous game, SCS gave it the best it had under the circumstances.

Seattle Christian managed to lead at 4-2 and was still within 7-6 after Catie Shelton's driving layin with 2:25 left in the first quarter. More than six minutes later River Ridge had torched SCS for 13 consecutive points and a 20-6 lead that turned into a 24-10 halftime advantage.

Once River Ridge applied extreme pressure on both sides of the court, Seattle Christian fell back for good, unable to execute its own offense or stop the perilous probes of the high flying Eagles. The message of how the game would end was as clear as if it was etched on the gymnasium floor.

SCS scored in single digits for all quarters, including a bagel in the third quarter.

"We just caught the defending 2A champions at the wrong time," said Warrior head coach Bob Kickner.
"River Ridge is very good with a lot of experienced players. We've had one practice since our point guard was injured. Without Lexi and Carissa we're just going to have to grind it out. Since we're right in the middle of adjustments, we need to figure out more together and prepare ourselves for the Nisqually League. It was just the wrong time to play the best team in 2A. Our goal is now to be the best in the league."

The Seattle Christian top scorers were Katie Collier, Alayna Gleason and Maddie Harris with four points apiece.

Collier was saddled with three fouls with just more than four minutes elapsed time in the first quarter and eventually fouled out midway through the first quarter.

River Ridge was led by the points of Necy Wade (13), Kelsey Russell (11) and Jasmine McDonald (10).
SCS moved on to split its next two games at Wilson High School to close out the tournament and end the week with a 6-3 overall record.

Seattle Christian rebounded to defeat Independent Class 1A Auburn Adventist 45-28 on Wednesday.

A rejuvenated Collier powered for 26 points while Harris notched nine.

After playing Class 4A Wilson strongly in the first half to trail only 20-15, the Warriors were outscored 18-5 in the third quarter and 36-11 in the second half while falling to the host school 56-31 on Thursday.

Collier scored 20 points, but Seattle Christian's next highest scorer only had four points.