There was good news and bad at the end of the Tahoma High girls basketball team’s first game on Dec. 2.

Good news was Tahoma beat Auburn at home, 55-46, but the bad news was Lauren Hamberg, one of four returning varsity players, suffered a season ending knee injury.

“First quarter of the first game,” said Bears head coach Keith Swasberg. “(She was) just making a move off the dribble.”

And then Hamberg’s knee gave out.

Swasberg said he’s seen the injury happen enough over the years he was pretty sure what was wrong, but knew it was best to let the doctors diagnose it.

“I prepared myself immediately for what was going to happen,” he said.

Hamberg arrived at practice on Monday with the bad news that she had torn her anterior cruciate ligament.

But Swasberg, who is in his third year at the helm, learned a lot in that Auburn game about his young team, which has four freshmen on the varsity.

“We had situations last year where we lost players. Those things happen,” he said. “Every player has to show they’re valuable and we had some girls step up (after Hamberg’s injury). I said at halftime, ‘Let’s do this for Lauren.’ They have good composure. They handled the pressure. They made good shots.”

For senior captain Katie Buskey the Auburn game showed her what the team can improve on.

“We know we are the underdogs,” she said. “We are a completely different team. We had so many seniors last year, it’s totally new. We will surprise a lot of people.”

Buskey also has faith in her team.

“Our team chemistry is really good and we understand each other really well,” Buskey said. “We’re always pushing each other to be better. I really feel good about (this season). We’ve changed everything about what we do. Practice is a lot harder. It starts at practice, pushing each other, making each other better. Once practice starts it’s time to focus.”

Good practices, Buskey said, lead to good games.

“We’ve definitely made goals about making the playoffs and taking it one game at a time,” she said. “If you want to get better, hard work will pay off.”

Buskey added that having former Kentwood player Erin Moore working as an assistant is helpful, too, because she can provide focused coaching to the post players while Swasberg can work more with the guards.

Swasberg said Tahoma’s goal is to be in the top five of the South Puget Sound League North Division.

Goals were discussed once and since then, even with the loss of Hamberg to injury, they haven’t discussed those goals since.

“We get better every day and that hasn’t changed our goals,” Swasberg said. “I just want the girls to focus. I would not want to be in any other division in the state. I like a challenge.”

And oh, how the SPSL North will be challenging.

Kentwood, which won the 4A state title in 2009, and defending state champions Auburn Riverside will be the top opponents, Swasberg and Buskey said, but the coach said his emphasis will be playing solid fundamental basketball with the girls focused on their game not how their opponent plays.

He will look to Buskey as well as senior Brittani Miller for leadership as well as sophomore Savanna Haverfield’s varsity experience to help with the youth of his other players who are new to the varsity this year: sophomore Kymber Morrison and freshmen Kailee Carlson, Cheyenne Haverfield, Chardonae Miller and Jordan Eberhardt , who had a team high 18 points in the first game.

“We have good leadership,” Swasberg said. “We’ll work really hard and come to games ready to compete.”