The goals will be much greater down the line.
But for one night, in the second week of the season, Tacoma’s top two girls basketball programs met for a Narrows League crossover game that gave the winners something to smile about.
It was pretty much all Wilson High School – the No. 3 team in Class 3A – in its home gymnasium, too. The Rams built a huge cushion early en route to a 70-50 victory over Bellarmine Prep on Friday night.
Tia Briggs led all scorers with 18 points for Wilson. Bethany Montgomery added 17 – nine in the first 2 minutes, 55 seconds of the game. Her driving basket off a pass from Kaysha Fox gave the Rams a 12-0 lead.
And for the entire first quarter, Wilson’s full-court pressure forced the Lions, ranked 10th in Class 4A, into ball-handling chaos – and 12 first-quarter turnovers.
“We wanted to run, and we ran,” Wilson coach Michelle Birge said. “And when we ran, we were good. … It put them on their heels, which is good for us.”
Yet, both teams could take away a few things to work on from that opening quarter – one that saw Wilson lead 26-5 at the end of it.
The Rams always seemed to be on the edge of being too aggressive with their pressure, and committed silly fouls. Bellarmine Prep was in the free-throw-shooting bonus at the 3:06 mark of the first quarter.
“At times, individual things got in the way,” Birge said. “The goal isn’t to just win ballgames. The goal is to be smart.”
Bellarmine Prep had not played until a victory a week ago against Auburn Riverside. Lions coach Kevin Meines said his team did not have a good week of practice – and it showed.
Four of their first five possessions resulted in a turnover. Their first two field goal attempts never even hit the rim. And they did not score until reserve Courtney Schwan’s basket at the 4:55 mark of the opening quarter.
It was Bellarmine Prep’s only bucket. The team was 1-for-9 shooting in the first quarter.
“In the grand scheme of things, it is a non-league game. But it exposed some weaknesses,” Meines said. “If going through that gets us better at the end of the day, I’ll go through it.”
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442 todd.milles@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/preps @ManyHatsMilles
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.