ARLINGTON — Other than an explosive second quarter, the growing pains of the young Arlington girls basketball team was felt when they encountered a 55-36 trouncing by Lynden Dec. 20 in a non-league game.

The Eagles struggled in both phases of the game but it’s what comes with an inexperienced team, coach Joe Marsh said.

“Lynden’s a really good team, and it showed tonight,” Marsh said. “Our defense was not very good.”

Arlington fell behind fast in the first quarter 17-8, but some promise was shown in the second. The Eagles scored from the 3-point line starting with sophomore forward Mollie Janousek and freshman guard Sierra Scheppele, but 6-foot-2 senior Tahlia Miears sunk one from afar to bring the score within 25-20. Miears led Arlington with 10 points for the game.

“That’s the effort we’ve been kind of looking for, but we need it for the whole game,” Marsh said. “We’ve had some nice quarters, but we haven’t had full games.”

Throughout much of the game, the larger Lynden players displayed better rebounding, and overall defense that would stifle the Eagles in the final two quarters. Arlington was outscored 20-6 in the third quarter. The Eagles did a better job of getting to the free throw line and converting for points, especially by Miears, in the final quarter.

“Everyday, we just got to go to work and keep getting better,” Marsh said.

Arlington’s record dropped to 2-4.