Renton girls basketball coach Tim White saw this coming. He knew this team would have just the right mix to be something special. So far, he’s been right.

The Indians are off to a perfect 8-0 start in the Seamount and stand at 9-4 overall, even with a challenging non-league schedule.

“It’s been going really well,” White said. “We’ve just been winning, and we’ve stuck together as a team. They’ve bonded and I love that about them.”

Knowing his team would have a lot of potential, White stacked the non-league schedule so he could learn what his team needs to work on.

First, Renton fell to Holy Names (11-2), the defending 3A state champion. Then Renton took on River Ridge (9-5), a team that’s won the 2A title three times since 2007 and placed third at state last year. Renton also lost to Spanaway Lake (10-4) and Port Angeles (8-5) in close, non-league games. Each game helped White learn something about his team. The biggest hints were that the Indians needed to work on rebounding and free-throw shooting.

“That schedule gave me an opportunity to assess where we were outside of the league,” White said. “It was all about seeing what type of adjustments to make.”

If Renton can get those right, to go with a steady offense and White’s trademark pressure defense, the team could be looking at its first state tournament berth since finishing second in the 4A tournament in 1987.

On offense, the Indians have great balance with Taylor Farris, Jordan Armstrong, Shanease Kenner, Priscilla Tuiasosopo and Tia Bryant all averaging more than eight potions per game.

Defensively, Indians have been especially tough on teams in the early stages of games, allowing an average of 8.46 points per quarter in the first quarters of games. The team pressures on the perimeter and Farris, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, is averaging 9.0 blocks per game inside.