Cruiser boys basketball season ends at SPSL playoffs

After squeaking into the South Puget Sound League playoffs with the No. 11 seed, the Eatonville Cruiser boys basketball team was hoping they could string a couple of wins together to advance to the district playoffs. Only the Foster Bulldogs and the Fife Trojans stood in their way.

The Cruisers headed to Tukwila on Monday, Jan. 28, to take on the Foster Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs put the pressure on the Cruisers early and never let up.

Despite senior Tristan Schoepf’s team-high 26 points for the Cruisers, the Bulldogs knocked off Eatonville, 89-63. This dropped the Cruisers into the losing bracket in the two-game elimination tournament.

After a day off to regroup, the Cruisers headed to Fife to take on the Trojans in a loser-out game on Friday, Feb. 1.

The Cruisers kept things close in the first half and trailed 25-24 behind Zack Smith’s 8 points. The Trojans would come out in the third quarter and held Eatonville to only 8 points to take a 41-33 lead into the final quarter.

Fife’s defense took over in the quarter and only allowed 5 fourth-quarter points for the Cruisers. Eatonville fell 61-38 and their season came to an end. Smith led the Cruisers with 11 points. With two more wins than the previous season, the Cruisers would finish with a 9-13 record.