All season lack of height was perceived as a disadvantage for the Issaquah girls basketball team.
But, time after time, the Eagles overcame the odds using their speed and scrappy defense.
It might not have ended as they hoped, but heads were still held high Saturday as the Skyline boys basketball team exited the Tacoma Dome floor.
Just when everything looked bleak, Issaquah made a valiant run at undefeated Auburn Riverside.
Through the first half of Friday’s consolation semifinal, it appeared Eastlake’s miraculous season might continue for another game.
How quickly things changed.
Cory Hutsen only intended to help his teammate defend the shooter at the top of the three-point line.
Eastlake kept it close early, but couldn’t sustain its hot start Thursday night, eventually falling 78-57 to Kentwood in the 4A state quarterfinals.
Mackenzie Schiltz simply couldn’t find her shot Wednesday during Issaquah’s 4A state opening win over Lewis & Clark.
Shots weren’t falling.
Passes weren’t crisp.
Rebounds weren’t being grabbed.
If the proverbial radar existed, Eastlake flew right right under it Wednesday night, hammering WesCo champion Lake Stevens, 69-48, in the opening round of the 4A boys state basketball tournament.
Maddey Pflaumer winced as the ball spun around the rim, kicked off the backboard and bounced a couple of more times on the foot of the basket before falling through the hoop.
Skyline had victory in its sights Wednesday afternoon’s opening-round state playoff game, but a three-point attempt from Conner Gacek was off the mark as the final buzzer sounded.
Sammamish 16-year-old Yina Moe-Lange put forth a valiant performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics, placing in the middle of the pack in both her events — the giant slalom and slalom.
Long after the Skyline boys put Lake Washington away 52-42 Friday night, players remained in uniform on the Juanita High School basketball court — individually posing with the marble and glass trophy that represented a piece of school history.
Issaquah kept its state playoff hopes alive Thursday night, holding off Eastlake 52-48 in a KingCo 4A loser-out game at Juanita High School.
From the moment Eastlake lost its opening round playoff game, the mission was clear.
Three years of frustration — a span of six close games, and six Eastlake losses, was put to rest on a grand stage Tuesday night.
Both were ranked among the state’s top 4A girls basketball teams, but only one kept its state tournament aspirations alive Tuesday afternoon.
Issaquah was small in numbers at the 4A state gymnastics meet, but junior Olivia Goree represented in a big way.
Another year, another pair of state swimming titles for Eastside Catholic’s Ethan Hallowell.
For the third straight year, Skyline wrestler Lexi Willcher battled her way to a state championship match.