White River High opened the girls basketball season with a convincing 67-26 victory over Class 4A Puyallup.

The home-court, Nov. 30 win was sparked by the Hornet defense, which created plenty of turnovers that were converted to buckets.

In the end, a quartet of Hornets scored in double figures, headed by returning all-leaguer Brooke Paulson, who hit for 18 points. Rani Weigand added 12 and Sabra Sproul and Kennedy Hobert had 10 each.

Coach Chris Gibson admits to being pleased with the way his squad played against Puyallup and Friday against Enumclaw.

“We played hard in both victories,” he said, while admitting his team has a long way to go. Consistency on the defensive end and on the boards will be crucial, he said, as the team moves toward league play.