Lady Cruiser hoops split opening games

Last Wednesday, the Lady Cruiser basketball team opened their 2020 season by hosting the River Ridge Hawks in their newly remodeled gym, Rainier Connect Arena.

The game was a tight one in the first quarter as the Hawks led 11-10.

The Cruisers began to tighten up their defense in the second quarter and took over the lead by outscoring River Ridge 11-6 to lead 21-17 at the half.

Both teams played great defense in the third quarter. The Cruisers would put up 8 points in the quarter to the Hawks’ 6 points. Eatonville’s lead increased to 6 at the start of the fourth quarter.

The Cruiser defense really clamped down in the fourth quarter by only allowing one River Ridge bucket as Eatonville cruised to a 39-25 victory and give new head coach Erik Swartout his first victory.

Kya Stewart led the Cruisers with her first double-double of the season with a game high 17 points and 12 rebounds. Hailey Rath chipped in 16 points, while Brooklynn Lucht finished with 6 points and 14 rebounds.

The Cruisers rested up before heading to Rainier to take on the Mountaineers in a non-league match up.

The Cruisers led 9-8 after the first quarter and then the Mountaineers took over.

Rainier took the lead in the second quarter and then slowly increased that lead each quarter until the final buzzer, where the Cruisers took the loss, 42-30

Leading the Cruisers in scoring was Kya Stewart with 8 points, followed by 5 points from Andrea Hutchings and Berkeley Porter. Hailey Rath would score four on the night while both Brooke Blocker and Gionna Mervyn would each contribute three points.

Next up for the Cruisers will be an away game on Dec. 10 The Eatonville Cruiser men’s basketball team hosted the River Ridge Hawks as they opened the 2020 season.

The Cruisers kept things close in the first quarter behind the 4 points from Kaden Foster and Cameron Hatler and would trail by 2 at the end of the first, 12-10.

That would be as close as the game would be for the rest of the night as the Hawks shooters begin to light it up from beyond the 3-point line. At the half, the Hawks extended their lead to 14 points to take a 36-22 lead into the locker room.

Zach Smith heated up for the Cruisers in the third quarter with 7 points followed by Foster’s 4, but the Hawks’ shooters just weren’t missing. The Cruisers would trail 66-35 as the final quarter of play would begin.

River Ridge outscore dthe Cruisers in the final period 27-13 to take the win by a score of 92-48.

Leading the Cruisers in scoring was Cameron Hatler, who recorded his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Kaden Foster had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Finishing out the scoring for the Cruisers was Zach Smith with 9, Jakob Lucht with 6, Kyle Cox with 4 points and 9 rebounds and Reilly McIlraith with 2.

The Cruisers looked to get things back on track when they traveled to Rainier High School on Saturday to take on the Rainier.

The Cruisers led the game until the fourth quarter, where the Mountaineers outscored them 15-5 to give the Cruisers their second loss of the season, 42-41.

Reilly McIlraith led the Cruiser scores with 10 points. Kaden Foster chipped in 9, while Zach Smith had 8, freshman Kyle Cox dropped 5 points, Branden Storm with 3, Cameron Hatler with 2, and Alex Brymer rounded out the scoring with 1.

Next up for Eatonville will be a couple of home games against Steilacoom and Orting. The Cruisers will host Steilacoom Dec. 10 and then will host Orting on Friday, Dec. 13, against the Sentinels before ending the week on Friday at Orting High School against their longtime rivals the Cardinals.