By Jim Allen
For different reasons, it was an emotional Saturday night for Lakeside High School.
The Eagles boys lost a 51-50 heartbreaker to La Salle in the 1A Regional at Cheney High School, but the girls followed with a dominating 63-44 win over Naches Valley to earn a spot in the state quarterfinals.
“They earned this,” Lakeside girls coach Jeff Pietz said after the game, which saw the Eagles seize a 22-8 lead and gradually pull away. By halftime it was 35-17, and after three quarters the issue was beyond doubt at 52-32.
The Eagles’ biggest lead was 52-27 late in the third quarter.
After losing last year in the regionals to Okanogan, the Eagles came back even stronger this year. “We have a great group of seniors, and the younger players bought into it,” Pietz said.
As they have all season, the third-ranked Eagles (22-1) won with balanced scoring. Jocelyn Cook-Cox had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Stefanie Marikis had 11 points and nine boards, and Kelsey Jones had 10 points and three assists.
“With us, it’s tough to key on just one or two players,” said Pietz.
Naches Valley, which finished 15-10, got a game-high 17 points from Kaley Roberts, but no other Ranger scored more than seven.
Naches Valley shot better than 50 percent from the field, but got off only 33 shots compared with Lakeside, which won the rebounding battle 34-20.
The Eagles also forced 16 turnovers while committing only eight.