JOYCE — Fielding a team of five eighth-graders, including two starters, the Crescent Loggers girls basketball team held off Lake Quinault this weekend.
“I was really impressed with how the eighth-graders stepped up and played,” said coach Brian Shimko.
The Loggers were led by one of their veterans, junior Naomii Sprague, who scored 26 points on 12-for-23 shooting and added seven steals and three blocked shots.
Audrey Gales added 13 rebounds to go with two points, while Mia Chester had eight rebounds and two points. One of the eighth-graders, Mariella Kneiss, scored five points.
“We turned the ball over a lot, but it was a good start to the season,” Shimko said.
The Loggers (1-0) play at home against Oakville at 5:15 p.m. today.
Crescent 35, Lake Quinault 27
LQ 5 13 2 7 — 27
Cres. 12 9 6 8 — 35
Crescent (35) — Sprague 26, Kneiss 5, Gales 2, M. Chester 2.
Riders thriving in college
McMINNVILLE, Ore. — A pair of Port Angeles Roughriders girls basketball teammates have combined to help their college teams go 15-1 this season so far.
Eve Burke, who plays at Linfield College, had an outstanding season last year in her sophomore year, averaging 10 points and 5.6 rebounds a game. She is doing even better in her junior year, leading Linfield to a 7-0 start.
Burke is averaging 13.6 points a game and 6.6 rebounds this season, second on the team in scoring and third in rebounds.
Burke began hot with a 24-point, 11-rebound game in the season opener Nov. 15 against Pomona-Pitzer, hitting the game-winning free throw with three seconds left in overtime in a 71-70 win. She has had games of 19 (Redlands on Saturday), 17 (Concordia, Texas, Nov. 23) and 14 twice (Chapman, Nov. 16 and Corban University, Thursday).
Millie Long, a senior for Alaska-Anchorage, was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference player of the week for an incredible 21-point 11-steal, six-assist performance in her season opener, a 103-24 win over Simpson College on Nov. 1. That was a school record for steals.
Long, who also starred in both soccer and basketball at Cal Poly Humboldt and Peninsula College, winning the NWAC women’s soccer player of the year award, has helped lead her team to an 8-1 start. She has not slowed down much from that fast start, averaging 12.4 points, 4.9 steals and 4.4 assists per game for the Seawolves over nine games. She had 19 points and eight steals Nov. 16 against Stanton and 16 points, four steals and seven assists Saturday against South Dakota Mines.
