Eagles pick up 3 wins in 4 games

SOAP LAKE — The Eagles have won three of their four games since the calendar moved to 2025, picking up wins against Nespelem, Entiat and, most recently, Wilson Creek on Tuesday.

“We’ve felt like we’ve gotten a little deeper in depth, and a little bigger and stronger athletically getting Ruvim (Goloborodko) and Jairo (Lopez) back,” Head Coach Mingo Scott said. “We thought we matched up well with Wilson Creek; we tried to get it a little up-tempo by pressing in the second half.” 

Goloborodko and Lopez were two of the three returning starters from last year’s team, but missed the first seven games of the basketball season with injuries that occurred in football season in the fall. 

“When you’re a small school and you don’t have some of your bigger weapons, it tends to show a lot of weaknesses,” Scott said. “With them coming back – it's not that it’s all about those two – it makes everybody a little bit better. Now you’ve got to pay attention to those two guards and it opens up the inside for Jesse (Morales) and Abram (Cox).” 

Scott added that Morales has been putting up anywhere from 15-20 points per night since Goloborodko and Lopez returned to the court, including in Tuesday’s win against Wilson Creek where the senior led the Eagles with 21 points in a 60-38 win over the Devils. 

“We took a small lead and were playing zone to try and not give up penetration and lay-ups,” Scott said. “What we were realizing was it was giving them time to pinpoint their passes and get any shot that they wanted. In the second half we switched it up and said, ‘Let’s get it more up-tempo and get them out of their rhythm offensively.” 

Soap Lake began the new year with a clash against Nespelem, avenging an earlier double-overtime loss with a 76-36 win on Jan. 3. Morales led Soap Lake with 21 points in the win, followed by 12 from both Lopez and junior Logan Northup. 

“We were able to use Jairo, Ruvim and Logan (Northup), three bigger guards, to shut down their main guy, which we didn’t have that last time,” Scott said. “We basically just did a box-and-one, didn’t give up any layups and let their main player not touch the ball.” 

The lone loss since the new year was a 59-33 home matchup against MLCA/CCS, where the Central Washington B-leading Lions took down the Eagles 59-33. 

“When you’re playing the better teams, you’ve really got to play top-flight, organized basketball,” Scott said. “Everything has to be run perfect; you can’t turn the ball over, you have to run your plays good, you’ve got to set better screens, you’ve got to play good help-side defense.” 

On Jan. 10, Soap Lake traveled to Entiat to take on the then-7-3 Tigers, earning a 55-46 win after Morales (12 points), Goloborodko (11), Lopez (11) and Northup (11) all finished in double-figures. 

“We were trying to move their zone defense, where they had to leave us in one-on-one situations on the post,” Scott said. “That was our whole goal, to get those types of setups, because we knew they didn’t have anybody to cover out big guy.” 

The Eagles haven’t allowed more than 60 points since a Dec. 19 loss to Republic and have held three of their last four opponents to under 50 points. Scott pointed to bringing a mix of defensive game plans into each contest. 

“We’re really trying to keep teams honest by mixing and matching our defenses,” Scott said. “The longer you play one thing, the more a team can come out – the have timeouts and halftime to prepare for what you’re throwing out there. But, if you’re throwing different defenses and different sets and different presses, it makes it hard for a team to get a grasp of what you’re trying to do.” 

Soap Lake (4-6) travels to Oroville Saturday at 6 p.m. 

    Soap Lake junior Logan Northup, left, looks for a teammate to pass the ball to during a Dec. 3 game against Republic.
  

    Soap Lake senior Ruvim Goloborodko, left, brings the ball up the floor during a game in the 2023-24 season. Goloborodko, who returned from an injury earlier this month, is one of three returners of last year’s team.
  

    Soap Lake senior Jairo Lopez, right, attempts a three-pointer during a game last winter. Lopez, a returning starter from last season, recently returned to the starting lineup after overcoming an injury.