Cardinals Undefeated, Need “Greater Challenge”

MILTON-FREEWATER - The lady Cardinals go undefeated after their first four games of the season, adding another win with their 55-21 defeat of the Mac-Hi Pioneers on Tuesday.

Even though the girls played well, head coach Jerry Baker said he has a few things in mind that his team will work on before the Holiday Tournament coming up Dec. 28 and 29 in Helix.

"We need to work on not allowing turnovers on our part," Baker said. "We need to review our ball-handling skills, man to man, and defensive skills."

The girls' games so far have been pretty easy and not much of a challenge, he said. The girls hope the upcoming tournament in Helix will raise the stakes for them.

"A lot of the younger girls really played well tonight," Baker said Tuesday. "Samantha Moss, sophomore, and Hailey Goenen, junior, played pretty impressively."

"Ronnie Hulce had an excellent game." Baker said. "She had eight steals and was the leading scorer with 12 points."

On Saturday, the Lady Cardinals played Walla Walla Valley Academy, beating their opponents 68-31. Baker said his girls played "pretty average."

They started out strong and intense, but as the quarters passed it was hard to keep up the pace and the team had a tough time keeping the number of turnovers down.

Baker was more impressed with the way his team played the Lady Bulldogs Friday night, beating their local rivals 64-33.

"That was a good win," he said. "Dayton worked hard. They are young and inexperienced but they put the pressure on us."

WP nonetheless outscored Dayton every quarter and the Cardinals settled into a "great second half," Baker said. "We dominated the game, but our passing still isn't where it needs to be."

Genesis Pearson led the scoring with 18 points, followed by Kristin Potter with 10, Ronnie Hulce and Megan Withers with 8 and Dionna Baker with 7.