Lady Cruisers win twice, extend streak to four

The Lady Cruisers extended their winning streak last week when they welcomed the Castle Rock Rockets to Rainier Connect Arena. The Cruisers weren’t very gracious hosts as they dismantled the Rockets 58-26 to improve to 3-0.

“I am very pleased with our start,” head coach Deanna Andersen said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect with some of the teams we started our season with, but the girls have stepped up, played as a team, applied some pressure, and picked up some wins. I knew we had some skills, but it was whether we could bring them together as a single unit.”

The Cruiser offense exploded for 19 points in the opening quarter, and the defense stymied Castle Rock, allowing the Rockets three points in the quarter.

“We came out and started our second game sluggish and did not want that to repeat that, so we were ready to play from the tip of this game,” Andersen said.

Trailing by 24 points at the half, the Rockets put up a fight to open the second half. They outscored the Cruisers. 13-12, but could not gain any more ground. The Cruisers shut them down in the final quarter, allowing just three points as Eatonville cruised to victory.

“I think the style of play from Castle Rock was physical, and we slowed a little after halftime, tried some different things to see if they truly worked for us, and some didn’t, and that allowed the Rockets to score more in the third,” Andersen said. “In the fourth quarter, we switched back to our regular game plan. Our girls took some hard hits in the third quarter, as well, that drew some blood and left some bruises. This fueled them to want to control the game even more going into the final quarter, as well.”

Eight of the 10 girls who suited up scored for the Cruisers.

“It was nice to be able to play the whole team and spread some points around,” Andersen said.

The Lady Cruisers extended their winning streak to four games Saturday as they hosted the Cascade Christian Cougars and came away with a 53-38 victory.

Eatonville took a commanding 17-8 lead into the second quarter before the Cougars broke out on a 9-2 run in the second period to pull within three before the Cruisers extended the lead back to six before the half, at 26-20.

Both teams traded blows in the third frame, with the Cougars trimming the lead to five, at 35-30, as they entered the final period.

The Lady Cruisers turned up the heat in the fourth quarter with an 18-point outburst while holding Cascade Christian to eight points in the quarter.

Next up, Eatonville hosts longtime rival Orting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

EATONVILLE 58, CASTLE ROCK 26

Eatonville: 19 15 12 12 — 58

Castle Rock: 3 7 13 3 — 26

Eatonville: Bailey Andersen 14, Hannah Kralik 10, Brooke Blocker 8, Alayna Meyer 6, Sara Smith 6, Ryan Stammen 6, Hailey Hall 4, Lilian Bickford 4.

Castle Rock: Logan 11, Ellen Miller 4, JoAnne Preston 3, Jeaquel Cole 2, Kynsi Bayes 2. Brooke Albinger 2, Dakota Davis 2

EATONVILLE 53, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 38

Eatonville: 17 9 9 18 — 53

C. Christian: 8 12 10 8 — 38

Eatonville: Bailey Andersen 38, Hannah Kralik 5, Alayna Meyer 2, Lilian Bickford 2, Brooke Blocker 2, Ryan Stammen 2, Sara Smith 2.

Cascade Christian: Jenica Walling 15, Emily Midimo 9, Alisa Scott 6, Marissa Linkem 4, Kailee Pearson 4.