Devils claim road victory against Eagles in districts

SOAP LAKE — The Wilson Creek Devils (16-5) earned a stunning 51-44 win on the road against the Soap Lake Eagles (12-7) on Thursday evening in the second round of the 1B District 5 tournament. Both teams put up a competitive and physical performance as they battled it out on the court. 

“I'm super proud of them,” said Devils head coach Jeff Sackmann. “We kind of came up with a little bit of a different game plan that I think was able to bother them a little bit, but the girls executed it.” 

The Eagles were the first on the board as Brooke Dana and Mylee Dana both scored two each to get up 4-0. The Devils were quick to respond as they closed the gap and gained the lead by the end of the quarter.  

Wilson Creek remained ahead throughout the second quarter as Ady Leslie, Lila Sackman and Kaydence Leslie each sank threes. The Eagles kept close behind with the help of Liana Sushik’s three three-pointers in the quarter, but Soap Lake trailed 22-27 by the end of the half. 

Soap Lake bounced back in the third quarter, putting up a strong offensive front, scoring 12 in the quarter. The Eagles' defense simultaneously held the Devils to only seven points to tie the game up 34-34 going into the fourth quarter. 

The final quarter of the game was a physical matchup as the two teams pushed to gain the edge over their opponent. As the final minutes fell down, Wilson Creek pulled out ahead to gain the victory by seven points. 

Lila Sackmann was the top scorer for the Devils, putting up 22 points and was followed by Kaydence Leslie, who scored 16 points. The Eagles' top scorer of the night was Liana Sushik, who put up 14 points and was followed closely behind by Tanya Zubritskiy, who put up 10. 

The Devils came into the game following a home playoff matchup against Easton the night before. Sackmann said the girls had a lot of momentum coming out of that game and encouraged the girls to use their defensive efforts to carry that momentum against Soap Lake. 

“My girls have a lot of heart,” said Sackman. “I only played six of them tonight, two different ones hit the deck, had bumps and bruises, and they sucked it up and came back in and battled through it.” 

As the Devils move forward with postseason play, the Devils' coach said it will be important for them to give their all as they continue to face tough opponents. 

Eagles head coach Leonard Lundgren said that coming into Thursday’s game, he knew it was going to be a tough matchup and was bound to go back and forth. Thursday's game marked the third meeting between these two teams in the season. 

“I think the girls were a little anxious, (had) a little extra energy and shots just didn’t fall. That was a big part of it,” said Lundgren. “We had a lot of good looks, but just missed a lot of easy shots early in the game and then late in the game, so they kind of pulled away from that.” 

As the Eagles press forward in the postseason, he said it will be important for them to keep up their fighting spirit that was shown Thursday. Despite being down early, the girls dug themselves out and stayed competitive until the very end.  

With a few more days until their next matchup, Soap Lake’s focus is to get better on defensive rebounds and learn to control the emotional aspects of the game when things aren’t going their way, said the Eagles coach. 

“Just take one day at a time, work hard,” said Lundgren. “I always tell the girls, ‘We win as a team, and we lose as a team, just go out there and have some fun.’ And so tonight was a prime example.” 

The Devils went on the road to face the number-one-seeded Waterville-Mansfield Saturday at 2 p.m. The results of that game were not available at the time of publication. The Eagles face the winner of the Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School vs. Pateros game held Saturday at noon. 

BOX SCORE:

WCRK: 12-15-7-17: 51
SPLK: 9-13-12-10: 44 

    Reece Voss, a freshman from Wilson Creek, shoots a free throw in Thursday’s district matchup against Soap Lake.
  

    Wilson Creek freshman Ady Leslie shoots for three during the district game against Soap Lake Thursday.
  

    Lila Sackman (20), a junior for the devils, races against Liana Sushik (3), a senior from the Eagles, toward the net during Thursday’s game.
  

    Soap Lake senior Tanya Zubritskiy aims for a three-pointer during the district matchup against Wilson Creek.
  

    Brooke Dana, a senior from the Eagles, prepares to shoot a free throw during Thursday’s matchup against the Devils.