SUTTER, CA (MPG) - The Marysville Indians girls basketball team opened Pioneer Valley League play with a decisive 61-17 victory over the Sutter Huskies on Wednesday, January 4 en route to their fifth win in a row.

Marysville controlled the game early and didn’t look back as they opened with a 15-0 run in the first four and a half minutes of the game before Sutter was able to crack the scoreboard.

The Lady Huskies roster is young and resilient, but head coach Brandee Harter expressed to the Dispatch that most of her roster is new to the game of basketball.

Sutter graduated seven seniors last season and their current roster is made up of one senior with the rest of the roster filled up with seven juniors and two sophomores.

“I’m very proud of the athletes I have and as time goes on, they’re going to do very well,” Harter told the Dispatch.

Marysville (13-2, 1-0 PVL) led 23-2 at the end of the first.

The Lady Indians, who have an experienced club that has played with each other for a while, have multiple standout players that can attack from any angle.

Marysville senior guard and captain Sophia Rogers mentioned the continued full-court pressure defense the Lady Indians start out each game with, set the tone defensively and creates multiple opportunities on the offensive end.

Marysville had 36 steals in the game against the Lady Huskies which brought their season average to 27.2 per game.

Rogers is the 22nd ranked leader in steals nationally according to MaxPreps with an average of 7.1 per game; she had eight against Sutter.

“We’re going to keep playing hard and play our game,” Rogers exclaimed to the Dispatch.

Rogers also had six points, five rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

The Lady Indians took a 45-9 lead into the half.

On top of this being the PVL opener for both teams, it was also a return game for Marysville head coach Ike Prince as he was the head coach at Sutter for two seasons from 2015 to 2017.

Prince said to the Dispatch it’s always fun to coach against a former school, he added that he still has relationships with the Sutter coaching staff as they were assistants for him during his time as head coach of the Lady Huskies program.

Prince and Harter both told the Dispatch they are great friends and their families are close.

Sutter (7-8, 0-1 PVL) sophomore forward/guard Torrence Harter is the leader of the young Lady Huskies squad.

Torrence was averaging a double-double throughout the first 12 games of the season with averaging 12.1 points and 12.9 rebounds per game, but Sutter’s stats haven’t been updated on MaxPreps since their game against Highlands on December 20.

Torrence is also ranked in the top 75 of the country for steals per game with an average of 6.2 per game.

Torrence mentioned to the Dispatch that the chemistry on the team is good and everyone is supportive of one another.

Torrence had five points, eight rebounds, four assists, seven blocks and seven steals against the Lady Indians.

The Lady Indians defensive pressure troubled their opponents and it led to multiple options offensively whether it could have been a long-lead pass down the court, or if someone wanted to drive the ball from one end to the other.

Marysville junior guard Kaliyah Henry expressed to the Dispatch that the Lady Indians are always communicating with one another about how they can make each other better.

“We talk to one another about what we should do in between games played so we can improve and make adjustments,” Henry said.

Henry scored 10 points, had five assists and stole the ball six times against Sutter.

Henry and Rogers both expressed that it was good to give Prince a win against his former school, and that he is both a great coach and they enjoy playing for him.

The Lady Indians followed up the win over Sutter with a 46-point blowout win over Center on January 6, while the Lady Huskies got their first PVL win with a 47-25 victory over Wheatland on January 5.

With the season a little over half over, Prince said the biggest difference he has seen in his senior leadership from the beginning of the season to currently is the communication between everyone.

“When the seniors are communicating with each other, it trickles down to the other players on the team, it’s amazing to see,” Prince said.