FERNDALE — Eagles junior Eric Carlson recorded his second consecutive 20-point performance in a 58-40 non-conference win against Ferndale Dec. 3.

The guard scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds in a game where Arlington was able to execute on any play it chose to.

“I felt we could call a play and get the shot we were looking for pretty much anytime we wanted,” Carlson said.

Arlington scored it’s first 14 points on lay-ins — coming either by fast break or early in a set offense — before a three-pointer by point guard Zach Cooper earned a 17-8 lead midway through the second quarter.

“We run our motion and the guys are real patient in looking for a good shot close and moving the ball around,” said Eagles coach Nick Brown. “They are getting in the right spots and really finding their way through defenses.”

Although sloppy at times, the Eagles ran their way through the first half to a 24-15 advantage, but thanks to Cooper, they slowed the tempo and used their slight height edge to build the lead.

“Usually, in the Wesco (Conference), we’re at a disadvantage (when it comes to size),” said Brown whose starting lineup averages six feet. “But these guys are a lot like us height-wise and they put a couple of strong guys down in the box and have at it.”

Brown used the same bruising strategy in the Eagles’ season-opening, 57-51 win against Sultan Dec. 1, but the team was not satisfied with the outcome.

“We thought that the Sultan game kind of got away from us in the second half and we didn’t want that to happen again,” Carlson commented on the Turks’ 36-point second half Dec. 1. “We did a good job staying in front of guys this time.”

Carlson scored 22 against the Turks to start the season, and followed it up with 20 against the Golden Eagles.

“We just did a good job running our stuff,” Carlson said about his team’s pension for getting lay-ins off a motion offense. “And I was fortunate to get a couple of offensive rebounds.”

The Eagles maintained their 11-point advantage throughout the third quarter, before going on a 12-3 run to pull away for good behind five points by junior shooter Griffin Ginnis.

“Griffin did a good job finding an open spot on the floor to shoot,” Brown said of his shooting guard who ended with nine points.

Brown also complimented Cooper, giving the junior floor general credit for leading the team in the second half and focusing on increasing the lead.

“Zach struggled a little bit at first, but as he settled down, so did we,” Brown said.

The Eagles (2-0) took on Lake Stevens Dec. 8 — after The Arlington Times went to press — and will take on Lynden at home Dec. 11.