Free throw proficiency pays off

Eastlake rises to the occasion down the stretch against Mount Si

By Shaun Scott • January 19, 2015 4:47 pm
Eastlake Wolves senior guard Jordan Lester drives to the basket while being guarded by a Mount Si defender on Jan. 16 in Sammamish.
Eastlake Wolves senior guard Jordan Lester drives to the basket while being guarded by a Mount Si defender on Jan. 16 in Sammamish.

Proficient free throw shooting down the stretch propelled the Eastlake Wolves to a thrilling victory against the Mount Si Wildcats.

Eastlake (6-8 overall) hit 10 free throws in the fourth quarter, capturing a 78-73 win against Mount Si (3-10 overall) in a Class 4A KingCo boys basketball matchup on Jan. 16 in Sammamish. Eastlake head coach Steve Kramer said it wasn’t his team’s best showing of the 2014-15 season, but he will take the win nonetheless.

“It wasn’t real pretty. We obviously made our free throws in the fourth quarter so that was really the difference,” Kramer said.

Eastlake senior Jordan Lester, who scored all 17 of his points in the second half, said execution proved to be a pivotal aspect of the contest.

“We just had to take care of the ball and knock down our free throws. We kind of had the lead the whole game and we just wanted to keep the lead,” Lester said.

The Wolves bolted out to a 9-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game. Mount Si didn’t record their first field goal of the contest until JoJo Hillel’s layup with 3:21 left in the first quarter of play. The Wildcats took advantage of the Wolves foul trouble in the first half. Wolves guards Jordan Lester and Parker Lester sat out of the majority of the second quarter with three fouls apiece. Mount Si led Eastlake 31-29 at halftime.

“With Jordan and Parker really out of the game (in the first half), I give the kids a lot of credit for not giving up. Sometimes you can hang your head when your leader goes down, but we didn’t,” Kramer said. “I’m proud of them for that. It wasn’t pretty, but we played hard and won the game.”

Wolves senior guard Brandon Naluai scored a game-high 26 points. The Wolves outscored the Wildcats 7-2 in the final 1 minute, 25 seconds of the game. Lester said completing the season sweep against Mount Si was important to his squad. Eastlake defeated Mount Si 47-43 on Dec. 5.

“They’re a tough team and are new to the league (Class 4A KingCo) this year,” Lester said of Mount Si. “We just had to come in and get some stops. We got two wins on them this year. It feels good.”

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com