Eastlake girls overwhelm Skyline by sinking shots and grabbing boards
In their second matchup of the regular season, the Eastlake girls basketball team surged past Skyline with a 58-37 victory on Friday.
Eastlake’s defense dominated with 40 rebounds compared to Skyline’s 21. This set up significant scoring advantage for Eastlake, especially during the second half of the game.
The first quarter saw both teams relatively even-matched. From the start, the Spartans’ Mira Lee came out fighting, immediately sinking the first three-pointer of the game — one of many for the night. Not to be outdone, Eastlake’s Grace Thompson, Gabby Kirby and Sophia Aluas gave the Wolves the momentum they needed with a series of field goals to take the lead, ending the quarter 12-9.
The second quarter found the Spartans quickly outpaced thanks to five consecutive two-point shots from the Lady Wolves. Just as the first half was about to end, a back-to-back triple and two-pointer by Skyline’s Lee and Gabby Klee, respectively, narrowed the gap. At the half, the score was 27-20.
In a déjà vu moment, another back-to-back triple and two-pointer by Lee and Klee made for an energetic and aggressive start for the Spartans to open the second half. Eastlake’s mighty 12-point lead was shaved down to a mere two points.
Continuing to fight, Skyline’s Josie Hixson added to the Spartan score with a quick three-pointer, only to be answered by Eastlake’s McKayla Matsuoka with a triple of her own. Another three-pointer by Skyline’s Risha Anumolu narrowed the score to 34-31.
Unfortunately for Skyline, a surge of mostly unanswered two-point field goals from the Lady Wolves prevented them from gaining any more ground. Despite a fourth three-pointer by Lee, the Spartans were down 5 by the end of the third quarter.
The final quarter did not get any better for the Spartans. Except for one lone point from an intentional foul, Skyline was held scoreless while Eastlake powered ahead with more than seven baskets, with Ava Schmidt scoring at least four by herself. Their explosive production towards the end led to a resounding 58-37 Lady Wolves victory.
While tied in assists, Eastlake led offensively in steals (15-12) and defensively in blocks (2-0). However, Skyline dominated with six three-pointers, with Lee scoring four on her own.
Eastlake’s (16-1) next game will be a home conference game against a to-be-determined school on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 7:15 p.m. This will be the last game of the regular season.
Skyline’s (8-8) next game will be away against Inglemoor (7-8) on Wednesday, Feb 2. At 7:15 p.m.
