White River Girls Hope To Stay Up With Pcl Favorites

Trena Page knows a good thing when she sees it.

Such as the 5-0 record her White River High School girls basketball team has built.

``Right now, we're playing pretty well,'' Page said. ``For as young as we are, we're doing things I'm pleased with. We're undefeated right now, and I can't complain about that.''

But, with 16 years of coaching under her belt, Page also knows better than to expect a good thing to last forever. The Hornets are 2-0 in Pierce County League play, but they have yet to face Enumclaw, Gig Harbor and Fife, teams she and most other PCL coaches believe will battle for the league title.

``Those three teams should dominate most teams,'' Page said. ``I'm not sure if we can match up with them. If we can split with those three and sweep everyone else, we'll be OK.''

Enumclaw lost its league opener to Gig Harbor last week by five points, then trounced Peninsula Tuesday 83-39.

``We should be fighting for a top spot,'' said Enumclaw Coach Gene Avey, an assistant last season.

Enumclaw, 3-1 overall, return three starters from last year's team, which won the PCL title and finished second at district to qualify for the Class AA state tournament. They are ranked No. 9 in The Times preseason poll.

Like Page, Avey picks Gig Harbor and Fife as the teams to beat, with Tahoma and White River next in line.

Tahoma, the other local team in the Pierce County League, is also 1-1 after beating Peninsula and losing to White River. The Bears, 3-3 overall, return all five starters from last year's team, which reached the district tourney.

``We'll probably be somewhere in the middle-to-top end, hopefully,'' Coach Helen Shaw said.

-- ENUMCLAW - Senior Pam Brickner (5-feet-9), a first-team All-PCL selection last season, heads the trio of returning starters. Senior Pele Houk (5-9) and junior Resa Watterson (5-8) are the other starters back.

``They feel they have a good shot at the league title,'' Chuck Basteyns, one of the assistant coaches, said of the Hornets' aspirations. ``They want to be competitive. They're a good club. They'll be tough. But the league is tough, too.''

Junior Tricia Jensen (5-7) is new to the starting lineup. She poured in 18 points in Tuesday's victory over Peninsula and also had 18 against Gig Harbor. The other spot rotates between senior Sheela Grennan (5-10) and sophomore Lisa Doud. Doud had 15 points against Peninsula, while Watterson was the big scorer against Gig Harbor with 19.

Renae Van Dam, a 5-10 junior, is another key player. She scored 10 against Gig Harbor.

Basteyns said the Hornets have been working hard on improving their defense and rebounding.

``They like to press teams end to end, and they've got the speed to do that,'' he said.

-- WHITE RIVER - Three starters and three other letter winners return, but only one is a senior - Darcy Justice (5-7). The starting lineup includes two juniors and two sophomores, but Page has been impressed with their cohesiveness. She said this team should be better than last year's, which reached the Class AA West Central District tournament.

``I think we're better balanced and we're a little better shooting team,'' she said. ``And it just seems this group plays with each other well. They see the floor and they see each other.''

The bonus so far has been the addition of 5-11 junior Mona Wilson, a transfer from Hawaii. She has been averaging 10 points and 14 rebounds per game.

Junior Athena Ahearn (5-8), an honorable-mention pick in the All-PCL voting last season, also is averaging nearly 10 points per game and two other starters, sophomores Tracy Garding (5-5) and Karen Thomsen (5-9), are in the six- to eight-point range. Justice, Ahearn and Garding all started last year.

Page said sophomores Debbie Campbell (6-0) and Teresa McGehee also are contributing.

-- TAHOMA - The quick Bears hope to run their way into the playoffs, utilizing a fast-break offense. They also shoot well from the perimeter, according to Shaw, and play excellent team basketball.

``They play real well together,'' Shaw said. ``They read each others' minds, just about.''

The returning starters are seniors Lisa Pearson (5-7), Amy Dowd (5-3), Kerry Moffat (5-3) and Shawna Fowler (5-11) and junior Paige Kernkamp (5-10). Fowler, however, won't be eligible to play until next week and 5-11 sophomore Elicia Sloan has been in the lineup early in the season.

Shaw said juniors Naomi Whylie (5-6) and Heather Smitken (5-7) also play key roles and hopes freshmen Alicia Omlin (5-5) and Jenny Isley (5-4) can help, too.