Through the first half of Friday’s consolation semifinal, it appeared Eastlake’s miraculous season might continue for another game.

How quickly things changed.

Walla Walla, which led by just three at halftime, erupted in the second half on their way to Saturday’s fourth-seventh place game. The Blue Devils hit seven of their first eight shots in the second half on their way to a 69-47 victory, and a disappointing season-ending defeat for the Wolves.

“We didn’t think they’d sustain …,” Eastlake head coach Pat Bangasser said of Walla Walla’s hot first-half shooting. “They came out and matched it and maybe added to it. That’s a very good basketball team.”

Gary Winston led that charge, hitting six of those shots for 15 of his game-high 29 points. Eastlake’s 28-25 halftime deficit suddenly turned into a 55-35 hole by the end of the third quarter.

The Wolves led by as many as five in the first quarter and had a 17-14 lead at the end of the period. The teams traded the lead back and forth through the second quarter.

“One of our sayings before the game was ‘Enjoy the moment,’ and we had a lot of moments to enjoy,” Bangasser said.

Eastlake, which ended its season at 18-10, was led by seniors Michael Russo and Kyle Hansen with 13 points apiece.

“I really think we should be named comeback team of the year,” Russo said. “We were 3-17 last year and to come back this year and place top 12 in the state. I can’t say enough about the team.”

Bangasser agreed with his senior leader.

“We’re very proud of getting here and knocking off Lake Stevens in the first round,” he said. “We kind of ran out of gas today, but again, give them credit where credit’s due.”

The Wolves graduate eight seniors from this year’s team. Russo noted the hardest part of Friday’s defeat wasn’t the loss itself.

“We’re not disappointed in the loss, we’re more disappointed that the road has come to an end for some of us in basketball,” he said. “These are guys that I’ll love forever, that I’ll be calling in 20 years. I’ll remember all the great times with them. The season as an overall was so much more than we could have ever thought. It was an amazing season. This was a culmination of all the hard work the guys have put in over the last 12 or 14 years of our lives.”

Walla Walla advanced to the fourth-seventh place game against Decatur at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow.