If the Squalicum girls' basketball team got anything out of its three-day trip to Everett for the Archbishop Murphy Christmas Tournament, it was proof that it can be competitive in games.

A day after picking up its first victory of the season, the Storm played Class 3A Vancouver Mountain View tough on Saturday, Dec. 29. Unfortunately, poor first-half shooting dug Squalicum too deep a hole and it ended up losing 60-47.

"I want my girls to know how proud I am of them," Squalicum coach Mark Wright said in a phone interview. "Mountain View is pretty good - we saw them pretty much dismantle Anacortes yesterday. We're trying to convince our girls that they can be competitive in games, and I think they're starting to see it. We were competitive pretty much this entire game."

Unfortunately being competitive didn't translate to points in the first half, as the Storm (1-10) found itself in a 30-15 hole at halftime. But Lauren Eckert, who finished with a team-high 16 points, started to heat up in the second half to complement Janna Poradun's consistent 12 points. Eckert finished with four 3-pointers.

"We've tried to figure some things out and we've learned a lot over the last three days," Wright said. "I'm excited to see how we respond when get back into league play."

That will happen on Friday, Jan. 4, when the Storm hosts Meridian.

MOUNTAIN VIEW 60, SQUALICUM 47

Squalicum 8 7 11 21 - 47

Mountain View 12 18 11 19 - 60

Squalicum: Kayla Chang 0, Meghan Lowry 2, Lauren Eckert 16, Jessica Greene 7, Kamea Pino 0, Bailey Molnar 2, Sydney Arndorfer 5, Sam Starr 3, Hannah Lewis 0, Janna Poradun 12. FT: 11-21

Mountain View: Holboke 18, Lundy 8, Moore 4, Shadle 0, Ponzon 2, Duchensne 1, Ljuca 4, Cranston 7, Gaspar 10, Lindsey 6. FT: 13-28

3-ptg: Squalicum 5 (Eckert 4), Mountain View 3 (Lundy 2). Fouls: Squalicum 20, Mountain View 14.