Girls unleash firestorm on Cougars

Published 11:00 am Saturday, December 24, 2005

Falcon Jessi Eaton struck first just seconds into South Whidbey’s decisive 72-50 victory over the Lakewood Cougars Tuesday.

It was the Lady Falcons’ first Cascade Conference win; they’re now 1-1 in the league, 5-3 overall, and third behind Cedarcrest and King’s.

Play on both sides was aggressive as the score alternated wildly — it was 11-12 at the first break and then something happened.

“We unleashed our press and that made the difference,” Janelle Iversen recalled.

Sophomore Lauren Sandri noted the change as well.

“Our plays seemed to come together a lot better,” she said. “The coach told us to get our act together.”

As the second period began, a play seemingly designed by the Keystone Cops segued into a graceful version of Swan Lake on steroids: Britta Madison copped a steal and flung the ball to Caitie Newman down court. Newman back-handed it to Marcella Litwiller who passed to Erica Johnson then back to Newman for the two.

Grins all around. It was Lady Falcon team intensity at its best.

You know you’re in trouble when you spend precious minutes fighting for the ball under your opponent’s net, which is what the Cougars found themselves doing over and over again.

“We started to apply serious pressure on them, full-court pressure,” Newman said.

Just as the half ended Madison stole again, threw to Newman, who ducked just as a Lakewood player threatened to slam into her. What, she has eyes in the back of her head?

There were steals, double steals and a few triples as the steam slowly went out of the Cougar offense. You could see it in their eyes: Reflections of a game slipping completely away.

The score was 33-21 at the half.

“The shots started going in,” Eaton said. “We stepped it up quite a bit.”

“It sure was fun to watch this team put serious points on the board coming on the heels of a tough game at King’s,” Falcons Coach John Pyrtek said.

“We had a sluggish first quarter but got things moving with our full court defense, forcing the Cougars to make decisions under pressure,” he said.

Litwiller led with 22 points and 12 rebounds, Eaton and Newman posted 14 each (Newman also had 10 rebounds and six steals), while Amanda LaVassar had eight points and a season-high 16 rebounds.

The Falcons will need a tough defense next week as they travel to Blaine Dec. 27 and play the number five team in the state — Burlington-Edison.