The White River High girls used a fourth-quarter rally to defeat visiting Auburn Mountainview 47-44 Saturday night, keeping a tight grip on first place in the South Puget Sound League 3A standing in the process.

The league is a tough one, indeed, with more than half the clubs sporting a winning record. Saturday’s win pushed the Hornets to 9-1, just a game ahead of the second place, 8-2 Sumner Spartans. Bonney Lake is a notch back at 8-3, followed by 7-3 Lakes High and 7-4 Auburn Mountainview.

Tuesday night’s slate of contests could have made a dent in the standings, as White River traveled to Lakes and Bonney Lake headed to Mountainview while Sumner was at winless Clover Park. Lakes handed White River its only league loss through games of last week. Results of Tuesday’s games came too late to include here, but will be posted at www.courierherald.com.

Saturday’s contest saw the Hornets trailing 29-23 at halftime and 37-34 after three quarters of play. A 13-6 advantage during the final eight minutes made all the difference.

Brooke Paulson, the league’s second-leading scorer, was a life-saver for White River, coming through with 21 points while no one else managed more than seven.

Things were much easier the night before as White River coasted to a 58-42 decision at Clover Park. The Hornets raced to a 39-20 halftime lead and stretched the margin to 52-27 after three quarters.

Sabra Sproul led White River with 16 points, Paulson added 15 and Megan McKune had 12.

The Hornets started last week with an easy 67-34 victory at Peninsula High Jan. 19. White River led 41-19 at halftime and pushed its cushion to 33 points by the end of the third period.

Paulson led the way with 15 points, Carly McCutchen added 14 and point guard Cassidy France chipped in with 10.