MARYSVILLE The Lady Tomahawks won their first two games of the year in different fashions a season-opening 50-point outburst and 48 hours later a 39-point defensive battle.
M-P began their season Thursday, Nov. 30, with a 50-44 non-league victory over Shorecrest at home, and followed that up with a 39-31 road victory over Mountlake Terrace.
Saturday, Dec. 2, M-P showed off their defensive talents in a 39-31 non-league road victory over Mountlake Terrace.
Coach Julie Martin couldnt emphasize enough how proud she was of her defense.
We played unbelievable defense. We did not score well, but we worked it out in the end. Our work ethic was awesome until the final buzzer.
Defensively, Laura Degerness led the team with 15 rebounds and Shaelei Lucas pulled down nine rebounds.
Offensively Nancy Couls led the team with 11 points.
The team shot 23 percent from the field and 33 percent from the free throw line.
I am not too worried about our offense, Martin said. It will fall into place.
At Mountlake Terrace

M-P 7 14 4 14 39
MT 13 4 0 14 31

M-P Lucas 4, Couls 11, West 4, Peterson 6, Masters 3, Harris 1, Degerness 8, Moses 2.
MT Fritz 3, Anissipour 2, Porton 5, Hanson 8, Heck 13.
Records M-P 2-0 overall. MT 0-1.


M-P vs Shorecrest
The Lady Tomahawks basketball team may have been facing a smaller 3A opponent Thursday, Nov. 30, against Shorecrest, but their 50-44 non-league victory was hard fought.
M-P improved to 1-0 on the 2006-07 campaign in front of a mild sized crowd at the Jim Linden Fieldhouse.
The game was played one day after the season-opening game was originally scheduled due to inclement weather.
Coach Julie Martin said her team is trying to get warmed up a little bit, but was happy overall with the successful start to the season.
We are a little out of shape and need to work on dribbling and passing, but we have some great girls, she said.
After the Lady Tomahawks got off to a 4-0 start on baskets from juniors Jessica Masters and Nicole Pederson, the Lady Scots woke up and charged out to a 13-12 advantage after the first quarter of play.
The Shorecrest head coach began reminding his squad to perform motion to which the small, yet vocal M-P student section yelled at random outbursts.
Senior post player Laura Degerness got the crowd on their feet with a blocked shot and M-P regained the lead 18-17, but headed into the locker room trailing 22-18.
In addition to being held to only six points in the second quarter, M-P turned the ball over 13 times in the first two frames.
Coach Martin and her staff must have lit a fire under the team in the locker room as the hosts came out and outscored the Lady Scots 19-13 in the third quarter to take a 37-35 lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Youve got it girls, Martin said as Pederson drained back-to-back three-pointers and Masters contributed four points to spark the comeback.
Sophomore post player Britt Harris hustled on defense and scored all six of her points in the decisive rally.
Martin said the six-foot-1 inch Harris is a great all-around player.
She is aggressive and used her height well, coach said.
The Lady Tomahawks appeared to have the victory in hand with a 47-41 lead and less than one minute of play remaining, but a Shorecrest three-pointer cut the lead in half with 23 ticks on the clock.
The Lady Scots were forced to foul and senior Nancy Couls and junior Anna West converted on three of four from the charity stripe to seal the victory.
Pederson led the team in scoring with 13 points, Masters contributed 10, Couls had seven, Harris six and Degerness five points toward the team total.
Degerness led the team defensively with eight rebounds, Masters had seven and Pederson six steals.
We have quite a few things to work on, Martin said with a smile afterward.

At M-PHS

Shorecrest 13 9 13 9 44
M-P 12 6 19 13 50

Shorecrest Richards 8, Adams 4, Hagood 7, Gibson 4, Riordan 15, Osborn 4, Dodson 2.
M-P Lucas 4, Couls 7, Nielson 2, West 3, Peterson 13, Masters 10, Harris 6, Degerness 5.
3-point goals Peterson 3, Riordan 2.
Records Shorecrest 0-1 overall, M-P 1-0.