Fouls, Blazers can’t stop Rams

LACEY – The girls basketball game was barely five minutes old when Kaysha Fox was making her way to the bench after being whistled for her third foul.

She wouldn’t be alone for long. Early fouls also plagued fellow Wilson starters Bethany Montgomery and Carsen Stanley.

Ultimately, the fouls had little effect on the outcome of the game, merely giving the Rams a chance to showcase their depth – leading to this question: Just how big is the gap between Wilson and the rest of the Narrows League 3A?

Montgomery scored a game-high 16 points, Stanley chipped in 14 and third-ranked Wilson remained undefeated by easily knocking off Timberline, 75-33, in league play Wednesday.

“Wilson is a very athletic team,” Timberline coach Zandrea Edenstrom said. “I told my players that we needed to play fundamental basketball in order have a chance to win tonight. I thought we did that in the first quarter. When we stopped playing that way and started making mistakes is when Wilson took advantage.”

The Blazers (2-4 overall, 2-1 league) had to face the league’s top squad without Cierra Martin, who traveled to Germany for winter break, and Sara Bowen, who has been sidelined with whooping cough – making a tough matchup for Timberline even more difficult.

Wilson improved its record to 5-0 with a perfect 3-0 mark in Narrows 3A.

Niamyah Warner-Tannis paced the Blazers, scoring 11 of her team-high 14 points in the first half.

Teammate Sarah McKee added 11 points for the Blazers.

Timberline posted its only lead at 2-0 moments into the contest before Wilson was able to turn several turnovers into buckets as the Rams parlayed an 8-0 run into 17-9 lead after the first quarter.

Once the deficit reached 10 points early in the second quarter, Timberline was unable to trim it under double digits the rest of the way.

Montgomery’s second foul came 12 seconds into the second quarter, but the versatile senior continued to be aggressive at both ends, scoring eight points after picking up foul No. 2 with her final points of the first half coming on a layup at the buzzer which gave the Rams a comfortable 39-19 cushion at the half.

Wilson put the game away by opening the second half on a 12-2 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Montgomery, Fox and Stanley, pushing the lead to 53-21 midway through the third quarter.

“We came out tired in the second half,” Edenstrom said. “When you’re tired, it’s tough to box out, it’s tough to play defense. That’s what happened to us tonight.”

Fox finished with 10 points for Wilson, which has scored 70 or more points in each of its five games this season.

The two teams will meet again in Tacoma on Jan. 25.