Rogers freshman Barrett dazzles in prep debut as Rams overwhelm Bonney Lake

It’s safe to say Rogers High freshman Raigan Barrett won’t soon forget her high school basketball debut Tuesday night against Bonney Lake.

Barrett scored on her first field goal attempt en route to a game-high 22 points in the host Rams’ 65-32 victory over Bonney Lake in a nonleague matchup.

After the past years of playing catchup to start the season — including an 0-4 start last year — Rogers (1-0) was able to get in the win column in their home opener.

“To be able to score on the first play, that was pretty good,” said Barrett, who is also coach Amy Looker’s niece. “It was a good showing.”

Barrett also added six rebounds, four steals and three assists in a well-rounded debut with the Rams.

“She can have it all. She can have it all,” said Jessi Westering, who had 12 points and five rebounds. “Sometimes as a leader, you have to know when to step back and let the kid have fun.”

After reaching the Class 4A Sweet 16 last year, and the anticipation of adding a player like Barrett to this team, every game has to be treated the same: No opponent can be taken lightly.

“For her to score on our first offensive possession really calmed her nerves,” Looker said. “For us to get the get the win in the first game, especially after starting 0-4 last year, is huge. The girls now know every game has to be treated like a championship game.”

It doesn’t matter if it’s game No. 1 or the final game of the year, Looker added, the Rams will have to play every game the same if they want to reach the Tacoma Dome.

Bonney Lake (0-1) never looked comfortable as the Rams’ backcourt was too much for the Panthers to handle.

After being handed a loss where his team could only muster 32 points — including just 13 in the first half — coach Dan Lisk was left with few positive takeaways from the game.

“I’m not happy because we’re not a 32-point team,” Lisk said. “We can score more than what we did, but Rogers’ guards — especially (Barrett) — were able to have their way with our guards.”

Even without the presence of center Monae Lee’s 6-foot-2 stature, the Panthers handled the Rams frontcourt well enough that it forced Rogers’ guards to make plays.

“I thought we did a pretty good job in the interior,” Lisk said. “But it was allowing the offensive rebounds early on that killed us. We just didn’t compete.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Rogers freshman Barrett dazzles in prep debut as Rams overwhelm Bonney Lake."