Katie-Grad-Drive-150.jpg
Katie Grad

Lake Stevens, Riverside Win

By Mindi Rice
HoopGurlz Staff
Posted Mon, 12/31/2007 - 08:09 Washington schools prevailed against Oregon schools in division finals at the Riverside Invitational.

STORY BY MINDI RICE; PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON

AUBURN, Wash. — Two Washington schools took care of two of Oregon’s top 6A teams Saturday in the Riverside Invitational at Auburn Riverside.

Lake Stevens (Wash.) fought back in the third quarter to defeat Jesuit of Portland, Ore., 66-50, to win the white division, while host Auburn Riverside busted out a strong start against Sheldon of Eugene, Ore., for a 69-48 win and the navy division title.

The Ravens (6-3) went on a 13-0 run to close the first quarter and were up 41-16 at halftime on a Sheldon squad that finished fourth in the 2007 Oregon 6A tournament.

“We haven’t started strong since we started off against Shelbyville (Tenn.) Central in the (Nike Tournament of Champions),” Auburn Riverside coach Adam Barrett said. “So for us to be able to come out and take it to them right off the bat was pretty impressive.”


Mary Ochiltree

Sheldon came out and put together a run at the beginning of the second half, but the Irish weren’t able to get closer than 19 points down.

“That’s what we’re trying to focus on is the defensive end of things and not the offensive end,” Washington State-bound senior Katie Grad said. “If our defense is good and we’re getting stops and we’re getting transition and we can get into our press … we live and die off the press.”

Grad, the navy division MVP, led all scorers with 24 points, while sophomore Mercedes Wetmore added 17 for the Ravens, which went 1-3 at the TOC.

With wins against Buena, Calif., Friday and Sheldon Saturday, Auburn Riverside finished a streak of six games against teams from six states in 11 days, going 3-3, including Saturday’s strong showing against Sheldon.

“If we put two halves together like that, we’re going to be tough to beat,” Barrett said.

In the first division championship of the night, Jesuit came out firing against Lake Stevens, taking a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. Lake Stevens, which had battled to double overtime with Moses Lake (Wash.) Friday, came out flat but recharged at halftime to outscore the Portland team by 19 in the second half.

“It’s really good for us to be here,” Vikings coach Randall Eden said. “To go out and beat a team like (Moses Lake) and bounce back and beat Jesuit, those are monster wins for us. … It puts us on the map officially.”

Senior Mary Ochiltree led Lake Stevens with 25 points and was named the white division MVP. Senior teammate Alona Personius, who skipped her junior season to focus on softball, had a season-high 19 points. Eastern Washington-bound Meaghan White led Jesuit with 15 points.

It was their third game in three days at the tournament for both Oregon teams, while it was just the second of back-to-back games for Lake Stevens and Auburn Riverside.



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Mindi Rice works part-time as a sportswriter at the Tacoma News Tribune and as a barista at Starbucks. She grew up in Seattle, where she attended Roosevelt High School and first found her love for girls basketball by covering the Roughriders for the student paper. Mindi graduated from the University of Oregon in June 2004 with a degree in journalism. She is a member of the Association of Women in Sports Media and the Native American Journalists Association. Her favorite sports to play and cover are basketball and softball and she considers herself a statistics nerd. Mindi can be reached at mindi@hoopgurlz.com.


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