ARLINGTON — The Lady Eagles emerged victorious from the first game of the Wesco 4A District Tournament against Kamiak High School at home on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Kamiak put up a good number of points in the beginning of the game, sometimes leading the Eagles, but Arlington was never too far behind.
“We got off to a slow start,” said head coach Joe Marsh. “With the excitement of playoffs and with it being a home game, once we settled down we definitely improved.”
In the first quarter, Arlington scored 13 points to Kamiak’s seven and another 16 points in the second quarter with the Knights only scoring 10 points, giving the Eagles a 29-17 lead going in to halftime. Although the Knights took the lead a few times in the first half, the point advantage was kept in Arlington’s favor for the remainder of the game.
“We stretched the lead and kept ahead of them,” said Marsh. The Eagles scored double Kamiak’s points in the third quarter, and while the Knights rallied and outscored Arlington in the fourth, it was too much of a lead for them to overcome and Arlington finished with a 49-35 win.
“Ronnie Ladines had an outstanding game,” said Marsh. “She only scored two points but she had 11 rebounds, seven steals and three blocked shots. You have to expect that your best players are going to come through in the playoffs. Lindsay Brown has been our best player all year, she had 11 points and 10 rebounds tonight. We rely on her for a lot of things — scoring, rebounds. Krista Showalter had a great game the other night with 24 points. These are some of our top players. Ronnie played great defense for us. She had an incredible night.”
Senior guard Winter Brown scored 12 points including two 3-pointers, senior forward Lindsay Brown scored 11 points including two 3-pointers, and junior center Lyndsay Leatherman scored eight points. Senior guard Krista Showalter scored four points, as did sophomore guard Jessica Ludwig, including one 3-pointer. Senior guard Taylor Graham scored a 3-pointer, freshman forward Jayla Russ scored three points and senior center Ladines scored two points, as did freshman guard Emma Janousek.
The win qualified the Eagles to move on to the district semifinals at Mountlake Terrace High School on Feb. 9, against Snohomish at 8 p.m.
“What we are really thinking about is playing good basketball,” said Marsh. “We felt if we did what we do well, we would succeed. This will be the third time we’ve played Snohomish, so there are no secrets. We know what they do and they know what we do. Our goal is to do what we do best.”
The results of that game were not known as of press time; however if the Eagles beat Snohomish they will be qualified for regionals and will play either Lynnwood or Lake Stevens at the district championship on Saturday, Feb. 16, at Mountlake Terrace High School at 8 p.m.
