Yellow Pages
ANACORTES — The Anacortes girls’ basketball team had a rough night from the free-throw line Tuesday against Sedro-Woolley.
Fortunately, a hot start against the Cubs meant it didn’t matter.
Amanda Bessler and Arie Boyd each scored 14 points and the Seahawks sprinted out to a 23-6 first-quarter advantage on their way to a 68-33 Northwest Conference victory against the Cubs.
Bessler was 5-for-8 from the field and pulled down nine rebounds for the Seahawks (5-5 conference, 8-9 overall), including six offensive; Boyd was 6-for-7 and hit both of her 3-point attempts.
Freshman point guard Melanie Martin had five points, six assists and five rebounds for Anacortes. Four of her assists came in the first quarter, during which Anacortes shot 9-of-12 during its hot start.
“In the first half, and the first quarter and a half especially, we did a nice job of defending their scorers,” Anacortes coach Ken Welk said. “The offense got some transition baskets, and that was nice to see.”
He said the point-guard play from Martin and Mariel McCown helped fuel the offense.
“Melanie and Mariel are doing a good job of seeing their teammates down the floor and seeing angles,” Welk said.
Welk said the improvement from the young Seahawks roster was especially good to see.
“We’re seeing improvement on both ends of the court,” he said.
The Seahawks’ stellar play in several facets allowed them to overcome a 12-for-30 evening from the line in the game, which saw 46 fouls called and 59 free-throw attempts between the two teams.
Several players got into foul trouble, most notably Sedro-Woolley post player Brittany Grandy, who got her third foul with 2 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the first. She finished with four points and four rebounds.
Cheyenne Best led Sedro-Woolley (5-6, 8-12) with 12 points.
Sedro-Woolley coach Adolfo Hinojosa said, “We haven’t been able to get over the hump in the last few games ... we’ve got to pick up our spirit and pride. If we do that we can do some things in the next few games.”
• Trevor Pyle can be reached at 360-416-2156 or by e-mail at .
Read more local news in the Skagit Valley Herald and the Anacortes American, or read it online in the E-edition
