The Eagles used their defense to fuel a third-quarter run and pull away from Seattle Christian Academy to earn a 67-37 win Saturday, Dec. 15, in Elma.

Elma beat the Warriors (1-3 overall) by a comfortable margin with the help of an 11-0 third-quarter run that gave the Eagles a 37-20 lead after the game appeared to be headed for a close finish.

The Eagles (7-0) came out of the halftime break protecting a 26-20 lead and were determined to get some breathing room.

Elma’s defense was active in the second half, grabbing eight steals in the first three minutes of the third quarter to help extend the lead to 17 points.

Elma head coach Lisa Johnson said she told her team to pick up the defensive intensity in the second half.

“We were flat, and we had no energy in the first half,” she said. “We got outhustled to loose balls. We just weren’t playing how we normally play. So we talked at halftime about picking the energy up and putting the press back on.”

Mikel shot

The Eagles found their groove in the second half which stood in contrast to their first half, where the game appeared to be up for grabs. The Warriors and Eagles played a tight, back-and-forth first half that featured five lead changes as both teams struggled for control.

Seattle Christian Academy got a big lift from Olivia Clark, who was the only Warrior in double figures with 20 points.

Elma’s Jalyn Sackrider kept the offense afloat in the first half, scoring nine of her team-leading 19 points before halftime.

Kali Rambo added 15 points and made her biggest impact on the defensive end of the floor with eight steals.

Rambo agreed with her coach that the Eagles lacked energy in the first half and added that missing team leader Molly Johnston, who is sidelined with an ankle injury, made it difficult to keep focused.

“We didn’t practice very hard yesterday. It wasn’t a very intense practice,” she said. “We were down a little bit after losing Molly, but we’re going to do our best to keep in it until she gets back.”

Elma never found itself down again in the contest and shot 18-for-32 from the field in the second half.

With another win under their belts, the Eagles will prepare for the Seaside Tournament in Seaside, Oregon, where they will play three games in three straight days beginning today, Dec. 20.

Johnson said her team needs to stop coming out slow in the first half with the league schedule — which begins against Hoquiam on Jan. 5 — approaching quickly.

“We’re not going to be able to do that against better teams. We have to come out of the gate fired up and ready to go,” she said.

Seattle Christian Academy 10 10 9 8 – 37

Elma 14 11 23 15 – 63

Top Players: Elma – Sackrider (19 pts.), Rambo (15 pts., 8 stl., 4 asst.), Quin Mikel (15 pts., 11 reb.); Seattle Christian Academy – Olivia Clark (20 pts.)

Montesano 34, King’s Way Christian 33

Montesano center Zoe Hutchings scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to a 34-33 win on Monday, Dec. 17, in Montesano.

Paige Lisherness grabbed 15 points and Lexi Lovell had seven points and five steals as Monte held on to a 7-point lead atthe end of the third quarter to win by one.

Monte (5-3) shot 12-for-45 from the field and hit 9-of-17 free throws.

The Bulldogs faced Adna on Wednesday at Adna High School.

Tumwater 64, Montesano 45

A third-quarter run and too many turnovers spelled defeat for the Montesano Bulldogs as they lost to Tumwater 64-45 on Friday, Dec. 14, at Tumwater High School.

Montesano (4-3 overall) hung tough with the Thunderbirds (6-1) after Tumwater took an early 15-13 at the end of one period.

Monte came back to tie the game at 26 and were close until the wheels came off in the third quarter. Tumwater outscored Monte 15-4 in the frame to take a commanding 47-30 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

“Tumwater shot really well,” Montesano head coach Julie Graves said before turning her attention to her team’s 34 turnovers in the game. “We’re not going to win too many games with that many turnovers. That and the third quarter kind of doomed us tonight.”

Tumwater was led by Aubrey Amandala’s 23 points, which included five 3-pointers.

Olivia Bailon added 17 points and hit three shots from beyond the arc for a Thunderbirds team that hit nine 3-point shots in the game.

Monte was led by forward Zoe Hutchings, who scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Lexi Lovell added eight points for Monte, which shot 16-for-36 from the field and 11-for-19 from the free-throw line.

Tumwater took twice the amount of shots that Monte hoisted up. The Thunderbirds finished the evening hitting on 27-of-72 field-goal attempts, a state Graves attributes to the Bulldogs’ turnover woes.

“Those were possessions where we didn’t get a shot and that really hurt us in our ability to put points on the board,” she said.