Playing old school hard-nosed defense is a staple of the Issaquah Eagles boys basketball program.
The Eagles, who held the Redmond Mustangs to 25 first half points, captured a 86-74 win against Redmond in the Class 4A KingCo playoffs on Feb. 12 at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland. Redmond cut Issaquah’s lead to 10 points with 4:12 left in the fourth quarter but wouldn’t get any closer for the remainder of the game. The Eagles clinched a berth in the Class4A KingCo championship game with the win.
Issaquah head coach Jason Griffith was pleased with his team’s aggressiveness, especially in the second quarter of play where the Eagles held the Mustangs to a meager four field goals.
“We pride ourselves on playing defense. That is something you can play game in, game out and be consistent at it,” Griffith said. “Our guys like trapping and they like running around. There were stretches in the first half where we looked really good.”
Issaquah guards Trevon Ary-Turner and Jason Crandall each scored 20 points in the win. Ary-Turner finished with a team-high 10 assists. Crandall said Redmond never gave up despite trailing by double digits for the majority of the contest.
“The biggest thing when you get those kind of leads you usually can crush their spirits. Their (Redmond) spirits didn’t get crushed. They played hard the whole game and I respect that a lot. It was a really good test for us and was a hard-fought game,” Crandall said.
The Eagles (19-3) will face the Woodinville Falcons in the Class 4A KingCo championship game at 8:15 p.m. on Feb. 18 at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland.
“They’re a great team and they have a great coach. We have established a little bit of a rivalry with them these past couple of years. It will be two quality teams going at it,” Griffith said.
Crandall was all smiles when asked about the impending matchup with Woodinville.
“We only have one KingCo championship in our school history. We’ve missed out on it the last two years. We have a chance to hang a banner and make history for our school,” he said.
