The Columbia River girls basketball team prefers to do things the hard way.
That’s part of the plan of first-year coach Tuileisu Anderson.
“Our practices are really, really intense,” Anderson said. “When we practice hard, our games are easy. Like my college coach would always say ‘If our practices are easy, we’re going to struggle in the game.”
The Rapids have not struggled in 2A Greater St. Helens League this season, opening league play with six straight wins including a 68-47 win at Washougal last Thursday night.
Anderson is a 2014 graduate of Union High School who played college basketball at Colorado State Pueblo. Anderson, known at Tee, took over at Columbia River from Jesse Norris, inheriting a talent-laden roster.
“Something that I tell them a lot is to be a baller,” Anderson said. “I’m going to give you a blueprint to play, but then go out and play. They are so good at just reading what the defense gives them. … We have a lot of different options. Some really good drivers who can suck the defense in and get kickouts on the 3-point line.”
That’s what proved pivotal Thursday at Washougal. Trailing 10-9 after one quarter, the Rapids got 3-pointers from Peyton Dukes, Gracie Glavin and two from Marley Myers to open a 33-18 halftime lead.
In the second half, when Washougal started covering the outside short, the Rapids were aggressive taking the ball to the hoop, drawing three-point play opportunities in the third quarter — two by Dukes, two by senior Emma Iniguez.
But the Rapids’ real success starts with defense, Iniguez said. River spends most of its practices focusing on defense.
“Like our coach always says, ‘we’re going to be the best defensive team in 2A,’ ” Iniguez said. “I think all of us on the team want to achieve that, and we’re all going to work really hard to not get beat, just be aggressive and trust in our teammates on defense.”
Against Washougal, Dukes led the Rapids with 20 points, followed by Iniguez with 19, Myers with 13 and Glavine with 10.
The Rapids lost their first two games of the season to 4A teams Union and Skyview, but Iniguez and Dukes were unavailable for those games. Since then, the team has been pulling closer together and getting better.
“Our team chemistry, we’ve been building that a lot throughout the season, and it definitely showed tonight,” Duke said. “We just work so well together.”
Next up for River (6-2) is the Surf N’ Slam tournament in the San Diego area this week, where the Rapids will face some tough competition.
The Rapids were originally placed in the Slam bracket that included both Union and Hockinson. Anderson asked to be moved to the Surf bracket that includes top 4A teams like Eastlake and Woodinville as well as teams from California, Utah and Virginia.
And that’s the way Anderson likes it.
“I was like ‘hey, put us in the top bracket, and we’re just going to do our thing,’ ” Anderson said. “I don’t care who we are playing. I’m only worried about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to just execute down there. And then we’ve got to bring that back with us because we’ve got two tough games to start January. We’ve got Hudson’s Bay, then two days later, we’ve got Ridgefield.
“I’m preparing for those games already.”
