Slow starts seem to be a common theme for Tahoma’s girls basketball team.

Tuesday night against Kentridge at home, Tahoma struggled to find rhythm offensively, but stayed in the game in the first half thanks to an aggressive defense that created turnovers and eventually led to the kind of transition offense head coach Keith Wasberg likes to see.

The Bears put together an 8-0 run in the last minute and 44 seconds of the first half and never looked back, putting together a 51-37 victory.

Wasberg said he has been working to find the right combination to get the squad to overcome its tendency to start off slow.

“They’re trying to learn. They’re trying to get better,” Wasberg said. “We knew this was an important game to get, to have. We went to our press… that helped get us going. We needed to do anything we could to get into the fast break.”

Wasberg was pleased to see the improvement the Bears have made since the first time they played the Chargers earlier in the season.

“More people (were) understanding where to move the ball, spacing and transition,” he said. “We played better half court offense than the last time we played them.”

It was a free throw by senior Brittani Miller, who was fouled after pulling down a rebound on her own shot, that tied the game with 1:56 left in the second quarter then a bucket by Cheyenne Haverfield that put Tahoma up 22-20.

From there, the Bears never looked back, as they held the Chargers to just four points in the third quarter.

Senior captain Katie Buskey led Tahoma with 25 points, including 8-for-8 from the free throw line, while Jordan Eberhardt chipped in nine points, seven rebounds and four steals. Miller finished with six points while Savanna Haverfield added five points.

The victory puts Tahoma at 7-4 in South Puget Sound League North Division play and 8-7 overall. Next up are games on the road against Auburn Riverside on Thursday and Kent-Meridian on Saturday.