Issaquah Eagles boys basketball head coach Jason Griffith knew his team would have to slow down the dynamic duo of Newport post player Calvin Throckmorton and sharpshooter Jake Higgins to keep their perfect record in the Class 4A KingCo Division intact.

The Eagles didn’t give anything up easy, grinding out a 56-47 victory against the Newport Knights on Jan. 3 at Newport High School in Factoria. Issaquah improved its overall record to 7-3 and remained 6-0 in Class 4A KingCo Division play. Issaquah’s sticky defense held Higgins to 14 points and Throckmorton to just 13 points. The Eagles never trailed at any point of the contest. It was exactly the kind of performance the Eagles needed after going 1-3 at the 2014 MaxPreps Holiday Classic in Palm Springs, Calif., during the final week of December. Eagles’ guard Jason Crandall, who finished with 13 points, said the California trip was a wake-up call for his squad.

“We were a little bit tired, but we knew we had to bring a lot of energy coming off of our trip. We knew they (Newport) were going to come out and push hard. We knew as long as we pushed harder than them we could do what we wanted to do and win the game,” Crandall said. “We figured that out down in California. If we bring our energy, we’re tough for anybody to beat.”

The Eagles lost their first three contests at the Holiday Classic, but won their final game 60-56 against Saddleback Valley Christian on Dec. 30.

Griffith was glad to see his team follow the plan of slowing down Throckmorton and Higgins.

“I thought we won the game on the defensive end tonight. It felt like we didn’t shoot as well as we usually shoot, but we made it extremely hard for Jake (Higgins) to get open looks and we worked hard on Calvin (Throckmorton) down low. I thought that at the end of the day that was the difference,” Griffith said.

Tyler Gibson had a team-high 17 points and Scott Kellum chipped in 13 points as well in the victory for the Eagles.

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com