Interlake ends Eastlake boys basketball winning streak
The Eastlake Wolves ended their 3-game at-home win streak Friday with a 56-39 loss against the Interlake Saints.
Interlake took control early thanks to 3-point shooting from Dante Henton, John Ottaway, and Munir Feruzi, building a quick 9-0 lead. Eastlake battled to put points on the board, but the Saints’ defense was impenetrable, making it difficult for the Wolves to gain momentum. By the end of the first quarter, the Saints led 15-6.
In the second quarter, Eastlake fought back with free throws and a nothing-but-net 2-point basket from Kaleb DeHaan, closing the gap, 17-11. However, an open net slam dunk from Clark Tonnon fired up the Saints, keeping play neck-and-neck for an equal 9-point addition for both teams. The back-and-forth battle ended the first half with Interlake leading, 24-15.
After halftime, the Wolves returned to the floor energized and ready to play, hitting back-to-back 2-pointers to briefly lessen the divide, 24-21, the smallest gap of the night. Unfortunately for Eastlake, the Saints answered immediately including back-to-back 3-point shots, re-establishing their lead, 32-21. While the Wolves slightly out-shot the Saints in the third period, 14-13, Eastlake could not stop the Interlake offense and continued to trail, 37-29.
The difference in the final quarter proved to be too much for the Wolves as frustration took its toll and fouls mounted, sending Henton to the charity stripe for an added 6 points for the Saints. Despite a valiant effort from Nathan D’Souza with multiple buckets from the floor, 3-pointers from Interlake compounded the damage. The game ended without a head coach, as coach Nick Crossan was ejected, and the Wolves fell, 56-39.
While coach Crossan was ejected from the game with minutes left in the fourth quarter, no reason was given for the ejection. When asked for comment, Crossan politely declined to provide any detail.
“I don’t think it’s something to share publicly and it will stay between our staff and program,” said Crossan.
Eastlake’s Rutul Tarambale gave an optimistic reflection after the game.
“As far as what went wrong, we just have to make our adjustments, and we look forward to doing that in the next game,” Tarambale said.
Eastlake was scheduled to play the Cedarcrest Red Wolves next, but that game was canceled due to weather. No schedule updates have been provided as of the time of this publication.
