Cruisers End Skid, Defeat Rivals 70-33

The Cruisers were looking to get back on the winning track when they headed to Morton-White Pass last Monday, December 19th to seek revenge on the Timberwolves for their earlier loss the previous week. Unfortunately, the T-Wolves had the Cruisers' number again as they downed Eatonville 95-70 in a non-league affair.

The thirteen three-pointers Eatonville hit just weren't enough to counter MWP's Josh Salguero who dominated in the paint with 34 points on the night. Combined with Hunter Hazen's 21 and Jake Cournyer's 18 points, the Cruisers just couldn't match up well with the T-Wolves.

Salguero scored 24 of his career-high 34 points in the first half, before giving way to Hazen and Cournyer to carry the load in the second half.

Salguero scored 24 of his career-high 34 points in the first half, before giving way to Hazen and Cournyer to carry the load in the second half.

Shay Brannon led the Cruisers with 22 points, 18 of them coming from beyond the three-point arc.

Box Score

MORTON-WHITE PASS 95, EATONVILLE 70

Eatonville: 16 19 19 16 - 70

MWP: 21 26 26 22 - 95

Eatonville: Shay Brannon 24, Walker Bruun 13, Kyle Cox 9, Shane Taylor 6, Hunter Klumpar 6, Griffin Clevenger 5, Michael Stogsdill 5, Logan Taylor 2

MWP: Josh Salguero 34, Jake Cournyer 18, Hunter Hazen 21, Judah Kelly 12, Jace Peters 6, Carter Dantinne 4

Eatonville Head Coach TJ Cotterill gives instructions to his team during their game against Morton-White Pass. Photo: Cheryl Taylor

Following that loss the Cruisers welcomed in their rivals, the Orting Cardinals on Wednesday, December 21st. One thing that you always looked forward to each sports season is this annual rivalry game…….and if you were looking to snap a losing streak, you looked forward to it even more. This is because you usually ended a losing streak when you played the Cardinals.

That was no different this year as the Cruisers welcomed in the Orting Cardinals for their final game before Christmas and they treated the red birds as they usually do, by sending them back to Orting with a loss as Eatonville snapped their 2-game skid with a convincing 70-33 thrashing.

"We grew so much playing such a competitive team as Morton-White Pass. It's hopefully an experience we'll continue to look back on throughout the season in terms of what playing tough, relentless, together basketball must look like," said Head Coach TJ Cotterill.

After a close game early, that saw the Cruisers take a 6-point lead into the second quarter, Eatonville turned it up a notch on their rivals by limiting them to 6 points in the quarter while putting up 21 points of their own to take a 39-19 lead into the locker room at the half.

Eatonville came out inspired in the 3rd period and embarked on a 14-0 run to put the Cardinals in their rear-view mirror and hold them to single-digit scoring in the 3rd and 4th quarters to cruise to an easy 70-33 victory.

"It fueled us tonight. We know the competitiveness we must bring each night if we're hoping to achieve our goals and be where we want to be by February," Cotterill said in reference to the 2-game series loss to Morton-White Pass.

Box Score

EATONVILLE 70, ORTING 33

Eatonville 18 21 16 12 - 70

Orting 12 7 6 5 - 33

Eatonville: Shay Brannon 22, Kyle Cox 11, Hunter Klumpar 10, Walker Bruun 10, Griffin Clevenger 9, Mark Nueva 4, Shane Taylor 2

Orting: Mason McCall 12, Divin Mbuyamba 5, Tanner Peavler 5, Gavin Mangold 3, Cashis LaFountaine 3, Christian Cline 3, Gannon Greenan 2

The Cruisers currently have a 2-3 record and will travel to Anchorage, AK to compete in the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic tournament. They will play 3 games while there with the first game being on Wednesday, December 28th against Lathrop HS out of Fairbanks, AK at 2:15 pm with their other 2 games dependent on how they fare in their first game.

After they return from their trip to Alaska, the Cruisers will head into 1A EvCo conference play when they host the Montesano Bulldogs on Friday, January 6th at 7:00 pm.