Victories keep mounting for the Bonney Lake High girls, with three more during the past week stretching the winning streak to six.
The Panthers traveled to Clover Park Saturday and won 70-48. Bonney Lake hosted Peninsula Friday and took the victory 72-52. Jan. 20, the Panthers traveled to Enumclaw and beat the Hornets 54-42, one of the most important victories of the season for the Bonney Lake girls.
“That was a huge win because they had beat us,” coach Tom Ostrander said. “It was a big confidence booster.”
The Panthers have not lost a game since Jan. 9 against White River and Bonney Lake has built a 9-2 South Puget Sound League 3A record, 13-2 overall.
The Panthers are in second place behind White River with an 11-0 record. Enumclaw has played one less game and has an 8-2 record.
With three weeks left in the season, the team appears headed for a spot in the playoffs, which would be the first postseason appearance for a Bonney Lake High girls basketball team.
The top three teams in the SPSL 3A will be seeded into the district playoffs and the fourth- and fifth-place teams play a crossover game against the Seamount fourth- and fifth-place teams. The games are loser-out affairs.
At Clover Park, Bonney Lake clinched the game with a dominating 23-11 second quarter scoring spree, which gave the Panthers a 36-24 advantage going into the locker room at the half.
Bonney Lake then scored 17 in each of the final frames to secure the win.
Marcel Pounds continued her offensive fireworks with 18 points and Tiara Killmer hit 11. Pounds is the leading scorer in the league.
The Friday night game against Peninsula saw the Panthers down to the Seahawks by 12 at the midpoint of the second quarter.
Peninsula used a fast break and sharp passes to outscored Bonney Lake, until the Panther girls suddenly made a run to close the gap to one. The Seahawks clung to a 34-33 lead at the half.
It didn’t last.
The Bonney Lake girls came out and scored 23 points in the third to Peninsula’s six. The Panthers’ two-three zone stopped the Seahawk’s penetration and by the beginning of the fourth the game was all but over.
Pounds again led the Panthers with 22 points.
Killmer added 12 and sparked the second quarter run with her drives to the hoop.
“She is one of our best finishers when she goes to the hole,” Ostrander said.
Rachel Wiegand hit 12 and helped drop a defensive blanket on the Seahawks, while Lyonais added 10 points.
At Enumclaw Pounds hit for 18 to lead the offense.
Ostrander said Rachel Wiegand put in another stellar defensive performance holding the high octane Mara Koplitz to 14 points.
“Rachel did an awesome job, particularly in the second half,” Ostrander said. “I was really proud of the way all our girls battled.”
Bonney Lake was scheduled to host Auburn Mountainview Tuesday. Scores were not available. The Panthers will travel to Lakes for a 7 p.m. game Friday.
Reach Dennis Box at dbox@courierherald.com or 360-802-8209.
