Lady Eagles overcome Devils on the road

WILSON CREEK — The Soap Lake Eagles (12-6) added a 50-40 win to their record to end off the regular season against the Wilson Creek Devils (14-5) Thursday evening. Following the intense matchup, the two teams are getting ready to host their first games of the district tournament. 

“We feel pretty great,” said Sage Hart, a senior for the Eagles. “It was pretty rough in the beginning, but I think we finally caught up with our rhythm and just played like a team.” 

The matchup started close as the Devils came up just ahead of the Eagles by one point by the end of the first quarter. Soap Lake rebounded in the second quarter to outscore Wilson Creek by four and head into the half with the Eagles in the lead 21-18.  

After halftime, the game remained an even matchup as Wilson Creek put pressure on the ball and crept back up to a one-point game by the end of the third quarter. The Eagles had their strongest offensive front in the fourth quarter, where they put up 21 points to the Devils’ 12 to earn the victory by 10. 

Hart was the top scorer for the Eagles, scoring 15 points throughout the game. The Devils’ Kaydence Leslie had a strong performance as well, putting up 22 points with seven three-pointers. 

“It was a dog fight; it was a tough matchup,” said Eagles Head Coach Leonard Lundgren. “We struggled to shoot early in the game so that made things a little harder for our girls, but we were able to keep our composure.” 

Lundgren said it was important for Soap Lake to end the regular season off on a win following their loss at home during their senior night earlier in the week. With the road to the state tournament now laid out in front of them, it will take their full effort to stay competitive against the best of the best. 

Devils Head Coach Jeff Sackmann said this game was another great opportunity for the team to measure itself up before heading into the postseason. Despite the loss, he feels that this was one of the best games they’ve played all season and shows what this young team can go into districts. 

“I really challenged the girls to commit more on the defensive end to rebounding and blocking out and I really saw the effort there,” said Sackmann. “I was really happy with that, and the other thing was maintaining our composure.” 

With the Devils heading into the district tournament, he said it will be important to instill into this young team that the competition will be hitting another level in the coming weeks, and they’ll need to be ready for whatever lies ahead.  

“All the things we talked about of reacting, dealing with adversity and that kind of thing, play-offs are different,” said Sackmann. “Last year was my first time coaching and a more experienced coach warned me of that and I saw it firsthand, so that’s something I’m going to remind the girls.” 

In preparation for the postseason, Lundgren said the Eagles are seeing things from a fresh perspective and are hitting the basics as they prep for the upcoming matchup. 

Brooke Dana, another senior with the Eagles, said the main goal of this team, looking toward the postseason, is to make the state tournament. With a team of five experienced seniors and strong bonds between the other members of the team, she is confident in their abilities as they head into districts. 

“We’re coming for state, we want to go to Spokane,” said Dana. That’s our main goal this year and we’re going to try to make it happen.” 

As the Eagles get ready to make their postseason push, Dana and Hart said it will be important for the team to stay focused on their communication skills and improve their ball movement on the court.  

“I think we definitely have a shot at state, we just need to work as a team, figure out our errors and just work with it,” said Hart 

With the regular season behind them, the two seniors had a bittersweet moment as they look back on their career but are excited for what lies ahead.  

“It’s upsetting, it really is, but it’s going to happen either way and I think it’s just something to look back on when we’re older,” said Dana. 

The Devils are slated to be the fifth seed in the District 5 1B tournament, allowing them to host the 8 seed Tuesday. The Eagles are slated as the fourth seed, which will allow them to host the winner of Wilson Creek’s game Thursday. Further details on the matchups will be posted as they become available. 

BOX SCORE:  

SPLK: 11-10-8-21: 50
WCRK: 12-6-10-12: 40 

    Lila Sackmann (20) from the Devils works to get past Sage Hart (23) from the Eagles during a tight game Thursday.
  

    Kaydence Leslie, a sophomore from Wilson Creek, aims for a free throw Thursday evening against Soap Lake.
  

    Devils freshman Ady Leslie (30) looks to pass to a teammate while Mylee Dana (1) puts up a defensive front to block the ball.
  

    Eagles senior Tanya Zubritskiy works her way around the three-point line, eying an opening to either pass or shoot for three.