Everyone knew the South Puget Sound League North Division was going to be a dogfight this year. The league occupied three of the top-four places at last year’s Class 4A State Girls Basketball Tournament and all three of those teams — Kentwood, Federal Way and Auburn Riverside — return plenty of talent from a season ago.
But it was Auburn Riverside who took the early advantage in the North Division standings. The sixth-ranked Ravens got by top-ranked Federal Way Friday night, 61-47, on the Eagles’ home court.
Auburn Riverside was led by the 23 points of Mercedes Wetmore and 14 points from Kat Cooper. The Ravens also used a 16-0 run to open the fourth quarter to really ice the game.
Auburn Riverside (2-0 overall, 1-0 league) trailed by as many as six points during the first half and took a 33-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.
But the second half was a different story Friday night. After playing the first two quarters with the composure that led the Eagles to third place at the state tournament last year, despite playing mostly freshmen and sophomores, Federal Way became flustered by Auburn Riverside’s pressure.
Despite holding a 41-39 advantage entering the fourth quarter, the Ravens’ 16-0 run sealed the deal.
Wetmore, who has already signed a national letter of intent to play next year at the University of Washington, was the difference during the first half. The 5-foot-10 guard scored 16 of her 23 points in the first half.
Cooper took over in the second half. The 5-foot-10 junior scored 11 of her 14 points during the third and fourth quarters.
Federal Way was led by the 13 points of sophomore point guard Darah Huertas-Vining. Junior Chantel Dixon chipped in eight. Auburn Riverside held the Eagles’ leading scorer from a season ago, Tyshanna Burgess, to just six points and the 6-foot-2 Talia Walton finished with five.
Things don’t get any easier for the Eagles. Federal Way will host the defending state-champion Kentwood Conquerors Tuesday night in another huge early-season SPSL North showdown.
In other girls basketball action:
at Jefferson 52, Auburn 39 — The Raiders opened their SPSL North regular season with a 13-pont win over the Auburn Trojans Friday night at TJ.
The Raiders (2-1 overall) got 18 points from freshman Jada Piper and 11 from senior Hannah Kiyohara during the win.
Jefferson led 15-12 after the first quarter, but Auburn battled back in the second quarter and trailed TJ, 22-21, at halftime. But the Raiders put the game away with a 17-6 run during the third quarter.
Spanaway Lake 45, at Decatur 38 — The Gators couldn’t hold on to the lead during the fourth quarter Friday night and fell to the Sentinels in both teams’ SPSL South Division openers.
Decatur (0-2 overall) held a 10-point lead at halftime, after outscoring Spanaway Lake 18-8 during the second quarter. But it was all Sentinels after the halftime break. Spanaway Lake outscored the Gators 31-14 during the second half.
Denisha Green led Decatur in scoring with eight points and Kayla Lipston chipped in seven.
at Emerald Ridge 59, Beamer 26 — The Titans just couldn’t get anything going offensively Friday night against Emerald Ridge in Puyallup. The Titans tallied only 11 first-half points and trailed 28-11 after the first 16 minutes.
Beamer (1-2 overall) was led by the six points of sophomore TreAuna Culp and six from senior Taylor Winton.
