A team of White River High girls won five of six games and brought home third-place honors from the recent San Diego Classic basketball tournament.

Varsity coach Chris Gibson has taken a squad to Southern California the summer following each of the 17 seasons he’s been in charge of the Hornet program. This year marked the best finish for a Gibson-coached team, quite a feat for a program that regularly appears in Washington’s state basketball tournament.

After winning five straight, the White River squad fell to Oakridge High, a California team.

“We see some great competition down there,” Gibson said, obviously pleased with the way his club fared. White River was placed in the 2A division, which included 124 teams. In all, the Classic attracted 316 squads for its July 17-20 run, with games played at the University of California-San Diego, the University of San Diego and Reliant University.

Making up the White River team were Kristin Sturdivan, Amanda Lance, Ashlea Mills, Darian Gore, Maci Goethals, Kayla Howard, Kendall Bird and Lucy Rasmussen, along with twin sisters Sofia and Georgia Lavinder. The first eight played on Gibson’s varsity squad last season; the freshmen sisters are new to the district.

For the first time, Gibson also took a junior varsity team to the San Diego Classic. That team finished 10th in its division.

Making up the JV roster were Kailee Bruner, Chloe Chapman, Johanna DeJong, Dallas Bushaw, Taylee Goethals, Bailey Koch, Megan Cash and Lily Tranquilo.

The San Diego trip capped a busy couple of months for the White River girls program. The team competed in a summer league, playing twice a week at Bethel High, and participated in six tournaments.