Lady Eagles' total team effort tops MLCA

Nielsen's 12 second-quarter points lead Soap Lake

SOAP LAKE — Sometimes the final score can be deceiving.

Tuesday night, the score showed Soap Lake beating Moses Lake Christian Academy by seven, but it was never really that close — at least, after Kali Nielsen took over.

Trailing at the start of the second quarter, the junior guard became unstoppable.

Her layup with two minutes left in the half gave the Lady Eagles the lead at 16-15. After an MLCA miss, her jumper padded the lead. Nielsen's immediate steal and layup padded it some more. And a floater in the key gave Soap Lake the 22-15 lead to end the half.

"She's one of the quicker guards in the league and I think in the second quarter it showed," said Soap Lake head coach Tony Blankenship. "She's just been solid all season. "

The Lady Eagles pushed away at the end of the third quarter thank tos two steals by guard Stevie Stamper and one by Nielsen which translated to six points in less than 60 seconds and a 41-24 edge headed into the fourth quarter.

Nielsen finished with 22 points. Lady Eagles' freshman Michelle Marthini had seven points and was a strong presence inside, benefitting from being guarded by someone seven inches shorter than her.

MLCA guard Rebecca Hallberg's 3-pointer at the buzzer brought the deficit to single digits.

The Lady Lions were led by Rachel Hallberg and Chelsea Allsbrook, who had 10 and nine points respectively.

Blankenship said it was a big win for his club, which improved to 3-5 in league, good enough for a playoff berth if the season ended today.

"Our goal has been to try to get a playoffs spot," he said. "We just took a huge step toward that."

Although his team is playing for this year, Blankenship said this game showcased the young talent for both Soap Lake and MLCA.

"We're two young teams and I think you are going to be seeing a lot of us in the future," he said.