The Dalles High Riverhawk girls basketball team recorded what was undoubtedly its biggest win of the season with a 49-38 road victory over Gorge rival Hood River Valley on Feb. 3.
The young Riverhawks (three freshmen, four sophomores) guided by first-year Coach Darcey Hodges, were tied 13-13 with the more experienced Eagles (six seniors) at the end of the first quarter. The Hawks outscored the Eagles 19-11 in the second quarter to gain some momentum. The teams traded baskets for the most part in the second half, with the Hawks outscoring the Eagles 17-14 to hang on for the victory.
“It was exciting, and I felt really nervous in the last quarter because we just had to hold on for the last eight minutes,” said Hodges. “We’ve had some games where we lost a lead in the fourth quarter by making turnovers and giving the other team a lead. So, I was nervous, but they kept holding on and they fought hard all the way to the end. We played great team basketball and we had 15 assists and we only had 18 turnovers, which was a big improvement since we average about 30 turnovers a game. We took care of the ball, and we passed the ball well.”
The Hawks have only two seniors in twins Monica and Marisa Rojas (four points). “It was good to beat Hood River and it was definitely the highlight of the season for us,” Marisa Rojas said. Sister, Monica, added, “It was a really intense game with Hood River, and I really liked that. It was definitely the highlight of the season to beat them on their home court.”
Despite being younger and less experienced, the Hawks were able to pull out the win for their first league victory of the season and it also snapped a 10-game losing streak.
“It was great to just kind of see the pieces coming together and to see how much potential we have and where we can end up if keep working hard,” said Hodges. “It was the best game we played this year and it’s nice to get a league win. We’ll see them (Eagles) again on Friday, so I’m a little nervous. They’re unhappy about that loss and they’ll come in here ready to play, so we have to be ready.”
The Hawks were led in scoring by freshman Sydney Newby and sophomore Zoe LeBreton, who each had 11 points. The Eagles were led in scoring by Marina Castenada with 14 points and Ryann Rosselle with 11. Rosselle also grabbed six rebounds.
HRV Coach Steve Noteboom said the Eagles couldn’t overcome a poor shooting night.
“We met our game goals for rebounding, turnovers and fouls, we just did not shoot the ball well,” he said. “Scoring 38 points is not going to win many ball games.”
Friday’s rematch at The Dalles begins at 7 p.m.
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