by Paul Moseley

The third time was a charm for the Cleveland Eagles as they beat the West Seattle girls 57-54 in the Sea King District 2 tournament. The game, a gateway game to determine the third and fourth seeds in the District for the Regional playoffs, highlighted Cleveland’s ability to attack inside and out, and to apply pressure for a full 32 minutes. The Wildcats, coming off their first loss in 14 games to Juanita last Saturday, knew they were in for an aggressive game against Cleveland. The last time these two teams met, West Seattle beat them by one point to win the Metro League championship.

West Seattle came out fast, taking an 8-2 lead on the back of an opening jumper from Emily Fiso, and strong lane play by Lydia Giomi. The Eagles hung tough, and relied on scoring machine Aqeelah Williams on the inside and deep threat Giovanni Flowers on the outside. Both teams played pressure defense, and Cleveland came out on top, going into the half up by two points 24-22.

In the second half, Lydia Giomi took charge of the offense for West Seattle scoring 13 points, and the Wildcats traded leads with the Eagles. Cleveland, however, could not be stopped. As Williams continued to be a threat inside, Giovanni Flowers put in 11 points in the second half, including nine points on 3-pointers. Down the stretch, Emily Fiso took lead on getting the ball to the hoop, but Cleveland was keying on her, and the Wildcats could not overcome the Cleveland pressure and offensive attack and the Eagles prevailed 57-54.

Asked what the difference maker was in this game, Cleveland head coach Jaimie Redd credited their defense and their bench “Our pressure, our ability to defend this time. We knew we had to make sure that Fiso didn’t get hot at the end. Our bench came up huge today."

Wildcat head coach Sonya Elliott tipped her hat to the Eagles. “When teams are this good, there are going to be times when you lose."

Both West Seattle and Cleveland will move onto Regional play. Assignments will be made via a draw that happens Sunday. Cleveland will be the third seed from District two and West Seattle will be the fourth. Head Coach Sonya Elliott had a positive message for her team after the game. “I’m a glass half-full kind of gal. We played hard and got good exercise. We have some rest time and some practice. We have to get healthy”. Then, said Elliott “We’ll take care of business”. One tournament challenge for the Wildcats will be the venues. If they are played on college courts, teams like West Seattle with short benches will have a more difficult time absorbing the extra space on the court. “It’s a disservice to have them on college courts when we don’t practice on them” said Elliott. “It’s going to change our press a lot. That’s a challenge”.

The Wildcats have always been up for a challenge this year. Don’t count them out.

High Scorers for Cleveland:

Giovanni Flowers - 17 points including five 3-pointers

Aqeela Williams - 16 points with one 3-pointer

High Scorers for West Seattle:

Lydia Giomi - 20 points

Emily Fiso - 13 points

Lexi Ioane - 10 points