Cruisers topple Orting

The last time the Orting Cardinals boys’ basketball team beat the Eatonville Cruisers, most of the Cruiser players had just started kindergarten and Coach Swartout hadn’t become the head coach yet. The last win by the Cardinals was January 29, 2008 when the Cardinals downed the Cruisers 73-72.

On Friday last week, Orting was looking to end that 11-year streak and the Cruisers were hoping to end their 3-game skid and pick up their first win of the season when they hosted rival Orting. Both teams would come into the contest without a win.

The Cruisers ended their skid all right with a convincing 65-56 victory over the Cardinals to notch that elusive first win of the 2020 season.

The game was close for most of the first half until Orting pulled away late in the half to take a 39-32 lead into the locker room.

The Cruisers came out of the half energized and ready to fight back.

Sophomore Reilly McIlraith’s started to heat up as his shots started to fall and the Cruisers dug into that Cardinal lead. McIlraith would score 8 points in the 3rd quarter to help the Cruisers outscore the Cardinals 18-6 in the quarter to take a 50-45 lead into the final quarter.

The Cruiser defense would clamp down on the Cardinals forcing many turnovers and McIlraith would continue to be the hot hand for the Cruisers as he would score 6 more points in the final frame to help lead the Cruisers to the 65-56 victory.

McIlraith would finish the night leading all scorers with 17 points. He would also pull down 7 rebounds.

Freshman Shay Brannon would kick in 9 points and 6 rebounds.

Rounding out the scoring for the Cruisers:

Kyle Cox 8 points, 13 rebounds

Tyrese McElyea 8 points, 2 rebounds

Cam Hatler 7 points, 5 rebounds

Zach Smith 7 points, 2 rebounds

Jeremy Knoblauch 5 points, 3 rebounds

Kaden Foster 3 points, 1 rebound

Earlier in the week, the Cruisers hosted the Steilacoom Sentinels on Tuesday night.

The Cruisers kept the game close until the start of the 4th quarter. The Sentinels would lead 38-35 before outscoring the Cruisers 21-13 to take the win, 59-48.

Leading the scoring for the Cruisers was Jeremy Knoblauch who dropped 14 points and 5 rebounds in a losing effort.

Other scorers for the Cruisers:

Reilly McIlraith 10 points, 4 rebounds

Kaden Foster 8 points, 5 rebounds

Kyle Cox 5 points, 7 rebounds

Shay Brannon 5 points, 2 rebounds

Cam Hatler 3 points, 6 rebounds

Zach Smith 3 points, 4 rebounds