The White River High girls got off to a roaring start Tuesday and defeated the Hazen Highlanders 65-50 in the opening round of the Les Schwab Christmas Classic.

The three-day tournament is hosted by Bellevue College.

The Hornets are part of a two-day, four-team bracket. Also on Tuesday, Issaquah defeated Holy Names. That means White River and Issaquah will square off at 3 p.m. Wednesday for the tournament championship. Issaquah is a member of the Class 4A Kingco League.

White River’s early success – punctuated by a 32-10 advantage at one point – was keyed by Brooke Paulson and Sabra Sproul. In the first eight minutes, Paulson tallied a dozen points and Sproul had 10.

For the game, Sproul finished with 20 points, Paulson had 19, Carley McCutchen had 11 and Megan McKune scored 10.