By Jeremy Martin

Things have been going pretty well this season for the West Seattle girls basketball team, and Wednesday night was no exception as the young Wildcats posted yet another win, steamrolling a short-handed Rainier Beach club 63-18.

The Vikings put up a fight, but this one was over quick as West Seattle jumped out to 26 point first quarter lead before taking a 38-6 advantage into the half.

“We know better than to take Rainer Beach lightly,” West Seattle head coach Sonya Elliott said. “We don’t take any team lightly. Their team was great; they kept playing hard, like I told the girls, that’s not an easy situation to be in.”

Forward Lexi Ioane had an efficient and commanding game for the Wildcats (9-3), racking up 20 points while center Lydia Giomi had a double double in the first half, ending with 15 points, 12 rebounds and four steals after 32 minutes of play.

Point guard Gabby Sarver had a game high 6 assists and also nabbed four steals.

Reserve forward Sarah Cooper had one of her best games putting up 8 points while also pulling down 7 rebounds.
“It was nice to have her out there and give her an opportunity to have a positive experience; it was great,” Elliott said.

The Wildcats dominated the significantly shorter Vikings on the glass netting a 41-20 rebounding victory.

West Seattle also won the turnover battle, committing only nine for the game while forcing Rainier Beach into 28 blunders

“That’s what we talked about at half time, no matter what’s going on out there we have to take care of the ball, Elliott said.

Just about the only aspect of the game the Wildcats didn’t dominate was three point shooting, as West Seattle managed just two triples on 9 attempts.

On the other side, Rainier Beach began the second half scorching hot, drilling its first two shots, both long range bombs.

With less than one minute expiring on the third quarter Keiasha Jones took a step back behind the arc and confidently hit nothing but net. Jones’ smooth triple was followed up on the next possession by a top of the key bank from Bree Hayes.

The Vikings were held to seven total field goals, though that did include a nifty second quarter running bank shot from guard Kamarea Jenkins which the sophomore drilled with two Wildcats draped all over her.

The lightning quick Jones finished with 5 points and three rebounds.

Though she gave up seven inches to Giomi, Vikings center Zolvis Keilani was none the less able to snag 5 rebounds and score 5 points.

Despite the large lead, Elliott made sure her girls stayed sharp and kept their focus for 32 minutes.
“We try to work on some of the things we need to work on and it gives us an opportunity to give some other girls some experience on the court,” Elliott said.