In what has been a recurring theme this season, the Bear Creek girls’ basketball team lost another close game Tuesday night, wavering down the stretch while Rainier Christian came through with clutch shots as the visiting Mustangs pulled out a 38-33 Sea-Tac 2B league win.

The loss, their fourth defeat by five or less points, can be chalked up to inexperience and poor shooting, according to first-year Grizzlies coach Alan Dickson.

Dickson has been starting three freshmen on his varsity squad — guards Nikki Peterson, Madelyn Magee and forward Kendall Englestone, who have tons of talent but are largely untested in competitive game situations.

“We just gotta get that one close win, and then it’ll build confidence,” said Dickson, who team fell to 1-1 in league play and 3-5 overall. “It’ll snowball.”

Junior guard Megan Cheever led the Grizzlies with a season-high 14 points, including four 3-pointers, and junior forward Tajel Mehta, the team’s leading scorer, added 10 points.

Despite the strong performances of Cheever and Mehta, the Grizzlies couldn’t overcome poor shooting.

Bear Creek shot just 13 of 46 (28.2 percent) from the field, and made only 3 of 8 from the free throw line.

“We’re a very athletic team, but we have to improve as shooters,” Dickson said. “Megan can hit the outside shot, but nobody else was coming close.”

LEAD SLIPS AWAY

After a sloppy first half, which featured a combined 15 turnovers in the first quarter, the teams battled to a 16-16 tie at halftime.

Late in the third quarter, Magee drove for a layup and drew contact as the Grizzlies capped a 6-0 run to build a 26-22 advantage going into the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies extended the lead to 29-22 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when Cheever drained her fourth trey of the game.

The team’s youth, however, clearly showed in the game’s waning minutes, which included two tide-turning traveling calls against the Grizzlies.

Rainier Christian junior forwards Brittany Austin and Mariah McHolland led the Mustangs’ rally, driving to the hoop aggressively, trying to draw fouls as Bear Creek was already over the team limit. The strategy worked, as the Mustangs sent players to the line six times in the final eight minutes, while the Grizzlies squandered opportunities with missed layups.

“You can’t miss those. I think we missed 10 the whole game … just little two-three footers, that’s all they were,” said Dickson on his team’s poor short-range shooting. “We didn’t make them, and they did.”

Alexis Miller, Bear Creek’s only senior, made two clutch free throws to give the Grizzlies a 33-32 lead with 2:22 left, but the team finished the contest 0 for 5 from the field while the Mustangs closed with a flourish.

Leading 36-33, Rainier junior Jessica Wiest drained both of her free throws with just a few ticks left on the clock to make it a two-possession game and seal the deal.

Austin finished with a game-high 17 points, including 9 of 11 from the free throw line, for the Mustangs.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

The Grizzlies relied more on perimeter shooting particularly in the first half, which hurt their field goal percentage and was not the intended game plan, according to Dickson.

“We were just really inexperienced, starting three freshmen,” he said. “Once they start (driving the gap), it will be a little different game.”

Even in the loss, Dickson commended his team’s defensive efforts.

It was the fifth time in seven games that the Grizzlies had limited their opponents to 38 points or less, and Miller, a volleyball star for the Grizzlies, shined with nine rebounds and six steals, while Magee added seven steals.

Dickson, the longtime former Monroe coach, said that he will continue to emphasize layups in practice, knowing that his team can’t afford to take easy shots for granted.

“You get 10 minutes to shoot around (before games), and I tell them to get up against that backboard and practice,” he said. “It’s not just our posts that are missing, it’s the guards, everyone. It’s a shot that most people don’t practice.”

Dickson said the Grizzlies are looking forward to Feb. 3, when they’ll get a shot to exact some revenge on the Mustangs.

“I think we will improve, but if we want to make a run at the playoffs, we have to beat these guys next time,” Dickson said. “They’re a good team. We’ll see them again, and hope the outcome is better.”