Two nights after suffering its first league loss, the Columbia River girls basketball team got a big win on Friday night.
And the difference in the two nights boiled down to one thing — Desire.
“We wanted the game,” sophomore Gracie Glavin said. “We had to want the game more to win the game.”
The Rapids wanted it more, and they got it, beating Ridgefield 43-33 to send the Spudders to their first loss of the season.
Columbia River outscored Ridgefield 14-2 in the final quarter with Glavin scoring eight of her 14 points.
It was a stark contrast on Wednesday, when River suffered its first 2A Greater St. Helens League loss in a 49-44 setback to Hudson’s Bay.
“Coming off that loss, we knew (that) Bay wanted it more,” Glavin said. “They fought really hard. In this game, we had to fight really hard.”
And the Spudders made River fight. After River took a 20-17 lead into halftime, Ridgefield’s Jalise Chatman, Elizabeth Swift and Savannah Chanda each hit 3-pointers to put the Spudders up 29-24.
That’s when River’s grit showed.
Glavin missed a 3-pointer, but Peyton Dukes came down with the offensive rebound.
The ball got kicked to Marley Myers for another 3-point attempt that was off the mark, but Dukes again came away with the rebound.
River eventually worked the ball over for Emma Iniguez, who knocked down a jumper. Iniguez also finished with 14 points.
Rebounding is something coach Tuileisu Anderson had the Rapids work hard on in practice, and it helped spark River’s resolve.
“They get after each other when they notice someone is not getting a good enough position or someone is not giving their full effort,” Anderson said. “I’ve got great captains and overall leaders on the team who just tell (their teammates) ‘hey, you’ve got to pick it up.’ ”
Glavin added a 3-pointer that tied the game at 29-29 late in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, when the Spudders came out to guard Glavin on the perimeter, the sophomore drove to the basket on successive trips down the court to give River a 33-31 lead.
From there, the defense took over, as the Rapids did not allow Ridgefield to make a field goal in the fourth quarter.
The win put River into first place in the 2A GSHL with a 7-1 league mark. Ridgefield sits a half-game back at 6-1.
And just as important, Anderson said the Rapids learned they can’t let up on their intensity.
“I told them I have moved on from that (Bay) game,” Anderson said. “We are better than that. So they trusted themselves; they trusted me and the other coaches. I think that really showed tonight that we wanted it more. And that’s a tough team (Ridgefield). …
“But I want to give a lot of props to the (River) girls. I give them a blueprint, and they just execute. And they just balled tonight.”
