Reardan girls finish third at Districts

SPOKANE VALLEY-After an ugly 38-33 win over Northwest Christian and a convincing 59-48 win over Liberty, the Reardan girls finished third in the District 7 2B Tournament and will play for a chance to advance to state this weekend.

The Screaming Eagles played the first and fourth quarters on fire against Northwest Christian Friday, Feb. 9. It was the clunkers in between that nearly cost them the game.

Tenice Waters scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds before the Crusaders knew what hit them. At the end of the first quarter, the Screaming Eagles led 13-3.

In the second and third quarters, Reardan's players took a 16-minute vacation. They threw the ball away, stepped out of bounds, were out-hustled on rebounds and loose balls and missed lay-ins.

They scored six points in the second quarter and two points in the third. In those two quarters, NWC outscored them 23-8 to take a 26-21 lead going into the last period.

Waters opened the fourth quarter with a basket to bring the Screaming Eagles to within three points. Lillie Whitman tied the game at 26 apiece with a 3-point shot from the corner with 4:50 left on the clock.

NWC took a 33-31 lead with 1:05 left in the game,

With 42 seconds left, Chasyn Waters drove the lane, made the basket and was fouled. Her three points put Reardan ahead 34-33.

Rylynn Green sealed the victory with four free throws in the last seconds.

Tenice Waters led the Screaming Eagles in scoring with 11 points. Chasyn Waters and Green scored nine and eight points, respectively.

"We made big plays when we needed to down the stretch," Reardan head coach Bob Swannack said. "The first quarter our kids were running our stuff and playing good defense and then they took two quarters off. In the fourth quarter they did what we asked of them and that was the difference."

Reardan's narrow victory advanced the Screaming Eagles to a third/fourth place matchup with Liberty. And youth-laden Reardan was much more locked in en route to a 59-48 victory.

Like the night prior, the Screaming Eagles came out firing and took an 18-7 lead before sustaining the momentum toward a 30-16 halftime advantage.

Tenice Waters scored 11 first-half points, while Green added seven points and Chasyn Waters five points and seven rebounds.

Reardan's offense sustained itself for most of the game. And that was fortunate for the Screaming Eagles, because Liberty couldn't miss a shot in the third quarter.

The Lancers scored 24 points in the period, capped by a buzzer-beating Grace Grumbly 3-pointer that banked in from the corner. Reardan scored 20 points of its own to maintain a 47-40 lead into the final period.

The scoring kept happening for Liberty at the start of the fourth quarter. A Jordyn Jeske trey drew the Lancers within 50-46 with 5:25 left, but Reardan finally clamped down with the stops it needed and built its lead back to 57-48 in the final minute.

Tenice Waters finished with 20 points, while Chasyn Waters had 13 points and eight rebounds. Green added 12 points for Reardan.

"When we have our bench hit shots and defend well, we have higher chances of winning in the playoffs," Swannack said. "While Tenice was our engine, the rest of our cars were firing on all cylinders."

The Screaming Eagles will host Tonasket, District 6's third-place finisher, in a crossover matchup at West Valley High School this weekend. The winner goes to state, and the losers' season is over.

Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16.