Skyline Spartans defeat Eastlake to celebrate Senior Night
The Skyline Spartans (15-4) boys basketball team conquered the Eastlake Wolves (5-15) with a 75-50 victory to cap Skyline’s Senior Night on Tuesday.
Despite the Spartan tipoff possession to open the game, Eastlake’s Luke Wiljanen took Skyline by surprise, stealing the ball for the first two-point play of the night. With aggressive play from Ataberk Yildiz as well as Wiljanen for the Wolves, Eastlake closed the quarter with a slight lead, 17-15, despite a quick layup from Spartan Dylan Reilly to end the quarter.
The pace picked up for both teams in the second quarter as Spartan Nyale Robinson caught fire and the Wolves struggled to keep pace. Robinson dominated the court early with a 3-point bucket followed by three consecutive 2-point field goals. Eastlake’s Caleb Lee managed to steal the ball and added three for the Wolves. But try as they might, Eastlake could not get the ball in the net, and were down 39-26 by halftime.
The Wolves appeared to regroup during the break. Wiljanen came to the court fired up. With a crowd-pleasing slam dunk, Wiljanen rallied the Wolves and their student section to open the half. Not to be outdone, Skyline’s Ryan Shields followed up with a 2-point shot in response. In addition, Robinson and Reilly tag-teamed several full court dashes, widening the Skyline lead through the third quarter, 55-38.
A skillful pass from Mason Heisser to Tyler Griffin opened the final quarter with an early swift 2-pointer for Eastlake. But the Spartans were unrelenting as Reilly quickly took control and dominated the court for the remainder of the period, delivering 3-point shots and layups throughout the final quarter. Despite their valiant effort, the Wolves could not overcome the divide and fell short to the Spartans 75-50, bringing their regular 2022-23 season to a close.
The Spartans are now ranked third in Washington state based on the Ratings Power Index.
Post-season play began Feb. 2. Skyline defeated Woodinville, 54-49, in their first post-season game, and will face-off against the Mt. Si Wildcats on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m. at Bellevue College.
