In the first 16 minutes of play, the Redmond Mustangs hit seven three-pointers but still trailed the Issaquah Eagles 37-32 at halftime in a Class 4A KingCo boys basketball contest.

Redmond connected on just one three-pointer in the second half and Issaquah rolled to a 69-46 victory on Dec. 18 at Issaquah High School. The Eagles, who improved their overall record to 6-0 with the win, knew they had to find a way to slow down Redmond’s outside shooting. Issaquah head coach Jason Griffith said it was just a matter of his team extending their zone a tad more on the perimeter.

“The kids did a good job of not getting sucked in the second half. We contested more shots but you have to give Redmond credit. They hit a lot of shots in the first half,” Griffith said.

Issaquah senior guard Scott Kellum poured in a team-high 24 points in the win. Kellum nailed a three-pointer, drawing the foul while being knocked to the floor with 3:27 left in the third quarter. He hit the ensuing free throw extending Issaquah’s lead to 47-38.

“We were hitting open shots and my teammates were finding me. I was just happy to knock them down. It was a good night,” Kellum said.

Griffith was glad to see Kellum get into a rhythm on the offensive end.

“Scott is one of our leaders and he showed he is one of the better players in KingCo (Conference). We’re proud of him,” Griffith said.

The Eagles, who nabbed a fourth place finish at the Class 4A state tournament last March, are playing with a chip on their shoulder. Kellum said not many individuals thought the Eagles would be this good this season due to the graduation of star player Ty Gibson this past June. Gibson is currently a freshman basketball player at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

“A lot of people didn’t think we could do the same thing we did last year without Ty,” Kellum said. “We’re trying to prove them wrong right now.”

The Eagles will compete in the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic in Southern California during Christmas break.

“We are in the national division and we play Fairfax in our first game. They are ranked No. 26 in the nation and are typically one of the better teams in the country. We go to these national tournaments to see what we are made of. We pride ourselves on being competitive,” Griffith said.