Soap Lake girls make late charge, fall to Pateros

SOAP LAKE — Sophie Janikowski hit three of her five 3-point goals in the fourth quarter and the Soap Lake Eagles closed hard with a 9-0 run in the final eight minutes of Tuesday’s non-league girls basketball game, but Pateros made free throws down the stretch to win 31-26.

The Nannies held Soap Lake to just five points combined in the second and third quarters to take a 25-13 lead into the final period.

But the Eagles (0-2) came out slugging. Sierra Janikowski made a free throw and Sophie Janikowski hit a nice little runner in the paint to make it a nine-point deficit, 25-16 with 6:36 remaining.

Tracie Delgado buried a 3-pointer to make a three-point difference after trailing 25-13 at one point.

“The shots were there, we just couldn’t get anything to fall,” Eagles coach Leonard Lundgren said. “Sophie was the player of the game tonight. She led us in with 10 rebounds and 19 points and five steals. We played hard. We just struggled on offense.”

Bella Peregrino made the front end of a one-and-one to cut the Patero lead to 26-25 with 1:23 and it was a whole new ballgame for the Eagles, who led 8-2 after the first quarter.

“My guards led us in rebounding tonight,” Lundgren said. “We ran the floor well and played hard on defense. Even in the end, were right there. We just didn’t get the shots to go when we needed them.”

Pateros closed with an offensive put-back and a couple of free throws to stay out of reach, holding Soap Lake to 2 and 3 points in the second and third quarters, respectively.

Pateros 2 13 10 6 - 31

Soap Lake 8 2 3 8 - 26

Pateros - Sarah Poole 3, Jennifer Flores 2, Samantha White 8, Aleeka Smith 16, Jillian Piechalski 2.

Soap Lake - Sierra Janikowski 3, Sophie Janikowski 19, Bella Peregrino 1, Tracie Delgado 2, Mickey Shtyba 1.