A matchup between two of the best girls basketball teams in the KingCo Conference was dominated by the Eastlake Wolves.

Eastlake cruised to a 61-22 against the Newport Knights on Feb. 1 at Eastlake High School in Sammamish. The Wolves improved their overall record to 18-1 with the win while Newport dropped to 11-3. Eastlake’s defense surrendered a mere seven field goals in 32 minutes of play against a typically proficient Newport squad. Newport had a multitude of open shots from the perimeter in the first half but they just didn’t happen to fall. Eastlake head coach Sara Goldie said Newport challenged her squad in multiple facets.

“Newport is a great team. They made it hard for us to score. I think it opened up a little bit at end for us. They kept us under our average in the first half. Their defense was making it hard for us. I think the thing that kept us alive was our defense,” Goldie said.

Goldie was particularly pleased with her team’s defense in the second half.

“They (Newport) are a good shooting team. Early on they were getting a lot of open shots and we weren’t rotating defensively. They didn’t make those shots they normally make. We did clean up the rotations and those shots got harder for them,” she said.

Newport junior Anateya Sommerville scored a team-high nine points in the loss. Newport head coach Travis Whitaker remained upbeat despite the setback. The KingCo 4A girls basketball playoffs will kickoff on Feb. 9.

“I feel great about it,” Whitaker said of his team’s chances for success in the postseason. “Obviously tonight we didn’t play great. We’ll be ready (for the playoffs).”