By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

High octane defense propelled an aggressive offense as Nisqually 1A League Seattle Christian ran away from visiting Seamount 2A Foster (Tukwila) 45-24 in non-league girls basketball action on Tues., Dec. 23. SCS remained unbeaten after four games.

"This season, we're getting better play at point guard from multiple players," said Warrior head coach Dave Jansen. "The team has aggressive players that want to win. It's a good mix of young talent and good returning players that want to win. There's good attitude out there."

Wielding mighty weapons in their 1-2-2 full court zone press and 2-3 half court zone, Seattle Christian surrounded its opponents for 18 first half turnovers and 29 for the game as well as setting up numerous short range shot chances.

Already leading 10-7 in the first quarter, the Warriors attacked almost relentlessly. Kelli Ronish broke to the basket for a layup ahead of an Alexandria Ellis half court steal and inside hoop. Another Ronish steal and Ellis basket plus Madelyn Weber's inside basket completed the eight-point Warrior run to an 18-7 lead after one quarter.

The pattern continued with the Foster Bulldogs unable to defend or score well.

SCS mixed and matched starters with reserves in a spread out court playing time scheme. Nine players that entered the game played at least 10 minutes and not more than 24.

"They played us tight on defense, so we were able to get backdoor cuts," said Ronish, who scored 13 points to go along with four assists and five steals.

Midway through the second quarter, the lead reached 26-7 before a 26-10 halftime score.
Thereafter, it was a matter of what the final score would become.

Seattle Christian reached its largest lead of 43-18 before fourth quarter events played out.

"It was all about our defense," said Madelyn Weber. "We stopped No. 2 (Grace Williams)with Madison(Fors) and Kelli. We connected on our cuts to the basket. Our success is using aggression on offense and defense to push teams on their backs. Coach stressed staying inside the ropes to emphasize staying together."
Coach Jansen encircled the team with a rope as part of preseason preparations.

Weber played strongly for 10 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Freshnan Alexandria Ellis played a strong first half by scoring her game total of 11 points during that time. Taelor Willhoite notched five points and five rebounds while Ashley Schroder had four points and seven rebounds. Abby Louie closed out the SCS scoring with two points.

For Foster, Williams played 32 minutes, scoring 13 points after shooting 4 of 20 from the field.