Cedarcrest ends Eastlake’s at-home streak, 56-46
On Friday, Jan. 10, the Eastlake Wolves boys basketball team lost, 56-46, against the Cedarcrest Red Wolves, ending their 4-game at-home win streak.
As both teams took to the court, the tension in the gym was palpable. Managing to harness their energy, the Red Wolves put together an 11-point streak, including three 3-pointers, two from Quinn Larson and one from Colt Foster, to take the early lead. Not to be outdone, Eastlake responded with an 11-point run of their own that included a 3-point bucket from Kaleb DeHaan.
As the Red Wolves attempted a repeat with another run, adding 6 points to the board, they began to get sloppy, fouling the home team, sending Eastlake to the foul line for an additional 3 free throw points. An unexpected long pass down court to Wes Schmidt allowed Eastlake to add an energizing 3-point buzzer beater for a 17-17 tie to end the opening quarter.
Play remained tight in the second quarter as the two teams answered each shot bucket for bucket. Adding 10 points to the board, Cedarcrest had the lead at the half, despite a late-in-the-period 3-pointer from DeHaan for Eastlake to close the half, 27-24.
Despite the halftime break, Eastlake appeared to be dragging at the open of the third quarter, allowing Cedarcrest to immediately widen the gap with 5 unanswered points, including a 3-point bucket from Murphy Vliem. Knowing they needed to keep up, the home team fought back with a 6-point drive to close the gap, 32-30. Cedarcrest ratcheted up the pressure with a 9-point run and their best point-scoring quarter of the night for an 18-point addition, including another 3-pointer from Larson. Eastlake, exhausted and drained from the fight, fell behind, 45-35.
With Eastlake’s energy diminishing, Cedarcrest added 6 points to the board before the Wolves could respond. While Eastlake fought back with an additional 9 points from the field plus a free throw for the final quarter, the Wolves could not close the gap. In the end, the visiting Red Wolves held the lead for a 56-46 victory.
Eastlake will play the Lake Washington Kangaroos at Eastlake on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 7:15 p.m.
