The Newport Knights girls basketball team was never rattled even when faced with a double-digit deficit early in the second quarter against the Mount Si Wildcats.

The Knights stuck to the game plan and it paid dividends in a memorable 45-36 comeback win against Mount Si in front of their hometown fans on Dec. 14 at Newport High School in Bellevue. Newport improved its overall record to 5-3 with the win while Mount Si dropped to 4-2 overall. Things looked bleak early in the second quarter as Mount Si held a commanding 17-7 lead against Newport.

The lead didn’t last long.

The Knights outscored the Wildcats 38-19 the rest of the way, earning the comeback triumph. Newport’s defense slowed down Mount Si junior center Sela Heide in the second half of play. Heide scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the first half.

“I thought it was two-fold,” Newport Knights head coach Travis Whitaker said of his team’s comeback win. “I think Sophia (Dominitz) did an awesome job on her (Heide). She is a tough cover for anybody and Sophia just did work. She was getting around her, getting in front of her and getting tips on a lot of the passes. She just played great. I also felt like our guard pressure throughout the game just wore them down. They (Mount Si) were effective early with their press and they definitely had energy but we just kept at them and kept the pressure on. To play a quality opponent like Mount Si the way we did tonight gives our team a ton of confidence. I am just super proud.”

Mount Si head coach Jason Marr was disappointed following the loss.

“It wasn’t our best game tonight. We didn’t handle some things that we talked about doing. The girls played hard and it was a close game. Hats off to Newport. They hit some shots when it counted,” Marr said. “It is still early and we have another month and a half of the season. The good thing is we get to see them again next month (Jan. 16) and have another shot at them.”