In Girls' Basketball, Eastlake High Lady Wolves' Season Ends in Loss to Edmonds-Woodway

For 16 minutes on Tuesday night, it looked as though the Lady Wolves were going to pull it off.

Facing an Edmonds-Woodway team that had won 14 of its previous 15 games and finished fifth in the state tournament last season, the Lady Wolves rebounded from a shaky start to take control during the third quarter before eventually succumbing to the more seasoned Warriors, 58-44.

Eastlake built its largest lead of the game at 35-24 on a Caleigh McCabe free throw with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter and would enter the final quarter with a nine point lead and seemingly all the momentum.

But all of that changed rapidly as the Warriors suddenly regained their footing on the offensive end, running off 29 points in the fourth quarter - or as many as they had tallied through the first three quarters combined.

Meanwhile, Goldie's squad became out of sorts with the basketball, continuously turning it over in the painted area to E-W defenders.

The 15 of 50 the Lady Wolves shot from the floor for the game also hurt their cause and allowed the Warriors to land the first substantial blow of the game with a 13-3 run to open things.

"That's a fantastic team we played," Eastlake coach Sara Goldie said.

Yet it was Goldie's Lady Wolves who looked the part of a state playoff team for much of the game, holding a potent, multi-dimensional Edmonds-Woodway offense to only eight points in the second quarter and then seven in the third.

The Warriors' coach spoke after the game about how the Lady Wolves were continuously in perfect position to make plays on the defensive end, which is also a credit to Goldie and her staff.

After weathering the initial E-W offensive storm, Eastlake regathered itself during a dominate second period and took their first lead at 21-20 with 1:40 remaining on a Katy Ainslie bucket inside.

With a rotation that goes eleven-deep, the Lady Wolves also received contributions on offense from Abby Carlson, Bella Zennan, McCabe, Lauren Files and leading scorer Kendra Morrison, who finished with 12 points.

Morrison was also charged with the primary defensive responsibility on Sydney Donaldson, who is a Western Washington University commit and has a similar offensive game to Morrison.

Never was that more evident than during the third period during a two-possession stretch.

Morrison seemed to know exactly where the senior from E-W was going with the ball and beat her to a spot in the paint in time to stuff the left-handed layup attempt back off Donaldson's hand out of bounds.

But on the other end, as the Eastlake students showered her with chants of "YOU-GOT-SWAT-TED," it was Donaldson who rejected a shot on the inside as her team gained a defensive stop.

Morrison would do her best to keep the Lady Wolves in the game down the stretch. But ultimately, it was the Warriors' ability to manage the Eastlake defensive press that determined the ebb and flow of momentum.

Goldie said that among other things, she told her team how pleased she was with their belief in her and the system that the coach employed during her first season as head coach at her alma mater.

The outlook is bright for the 2011-2012 season when the Lady Wolves will return the dynamic offensive threat Morrison, the defensive-duo of Naluai and Zennan, outside shooting threats in McCabe and Carlson and their heartbeat in

"I'm incredibly proud of my team, the kids just believed in it from the first minute," Goldie said.

The loss ends the season for the Lady Wolves. For Ann Heine, Sarah Coyan and Katy Ainslie, it ends their Eastlake careers.