Skyline basketball tops Eastlake in overtime
January 18, 2012
By Christopher Huber
If Eastlake would have figured out a way to get Michael Hwang and Brandon Lester the ball in the second half Jan. 13, the Wolves could have ridden a comfortable lead to victory over Skyline.
But the Spartans were able to contain the two hot shooters and get past the Eastlake defense down the stretch.
Skyline guard Will Parker gave his team its first lead of the night with an arching 3-pointer with 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter. And that shot gave the Spartans the momentum to out last Eastlake 70-61 in overtime.
Eastlake went to 2-6 in KingCo play and 4-10 overall. At 7-1 KingCo and 12-3 overall, Skyline remains atop the Crest Division standings, in front of Redmond (6-2).
“It took the first half for us to do what the coaches wanted us to do in the first place,” said Lucas Shannon, a Skyline senior forward who scored 21 points. “We didn’t really change much.”
But the Spartans still got beat handily in the first half on defense. Its focus was to contain Eastlake’s Lester and Hwang, who are dangerous from beyond the 3-point arc and all-around weapons for the Wolves. The pair combined for 27 of Eastlake’s 31 first-half points, including five 3-pointers.
The Eastlake’s full-court-press defense dominated and kept Skyline shooters guessing in the first half. Despite tallying 18 points in the first half himself, Lester wasn’t happy with the way his team lost focus in the second half. It tried the same scheme, but the Spartans’ defense retooled and came out in a man defense.
“(Skyline) just picked it up on defense and we did nothing different,” Lester said. “Our shots just didn’t finish.”
Hwang opened up the game with a big three and Eastlake kept the lead all the way through, at one point leading 23-15 in the second quarter. It took a 4-point halftime lead and quickly made it 38-27 early in the third.
Skyline trailed 48-39 at the end of three, but relied on Eastlake foul trouble to score easy points. In the fourth, Shannon and Parker combined to make 10 of 12 free throw shots and bring the score to 58-56, Eastlake.
That’s when Parker hit the clutch shot to take the lead.
As Eastlake lost momentum and missed scoring opportunities, the Spartans found an offensive rhythm and tightened its defense.
Lester led all scorers with 26 points. Hwang finished with 16. Parker finished with 14 for Skyline and teammate guard Jonah Eastern tallied 13, including three 3-pointers.
“We just chalk it up to our focus,” Shannon said. “We just manned up and finished.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.
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