A second-half surge propelled the Lake Washington Kangaroos girls basketball team to a victory against the Bellevue Wolverines.
Lake Washington, who outscored Bellevue 34-20 in the final two quarters of play, captured a 57-37 win against Bellevue on Jan. 23 in Kirkland. Lake Washington improved its overall record to 11-6 with the win while Bellevue dropped to 8-9 overall.
The Kangaroos led the Wolverines 23-17 at halftime but dominated the early stages of the second half. The Kangaroos went on an 8-0 run in the first 1:22 of the third quarter, extending their lead to 31-17 with 6:38 left in the third period.
The quick start to the second half didn’t surprise Lake Washington head coach Jeff Wilson in the least bit.
“The big thing we’ve been great at this year is putting together consistent possessions. We turn 4-0 runs into 10-0 runs a lot. We really thrive off that energy,” Wilson said.
Kangaroos’ freshman guard Rosa Smith scored a game-high 18 points against Bellevue.
“Over the last five games, she has been averaging around 17 to 20 points per game. For her just being a 15-year-old, she is just so calm under pressure situations. She has been that way all year,” Wilson said of Smith.
Bellevue first-year head coach Nick Crossan, who was an assistant with the Wolverines for past three years before landing the head coaching job prior to the start of the 2018-19 season, said his team is still trying to find its stride.
“Our goal is to just still kind of figure out where we are. A lot of our players have been sick and we are trying to get healthy. Credit to Lake Washington, they kind of kicked our butts tonight,” Crossan said.”We weren’t really ready to play and they were. We just have to get back to the drawing board and hopefully make it to the KingCo championship game.”
Bellevue sophomore Sara Bower scored a team-high nine points senior captain Olivia Norton chipped in eight points in the loss.
Bellevue Wolverines senior team captain Ali Jochums, left, gains possession of the ball in the paint while being covered by Lake Washington sophomore forward Brooke Filan. Lake Washington defeated Bellevue 57-37 on Jan. 23 in Kirkland. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Ault Justus
