Before the season started, the Issaquah girls were unranked by regional publications — considered too small by some, and too young by others.

Now six games in, and the Eagles have raised eyebrows of those around the KingCo 4A and beyond.

“We’ve started out really strong, and we’re proud of that,” junior guard Mackenzie Schiltz said.

Issaquah improved to 6-0 Saturday afternoon, beating Bellevue 49-41 on the road.

The key to Saturday’s success followed the same formula as the first five victories. For a full 32 minutes, the Eagles harassed their opponent on defense and pushed the ball up court quickly on offense.

Most impressive to head coach Kathy Gibson was her team’s ability to take the court 20 hours after beating league rival Eastlake, and still perform.

“We asked them after the game, ‘Physically, was that hard?’ And they were like ‘Yeah.’ But mentally it wasn’t hard for them,” Gibson said. “What that means is they were telling themselves they could do it, and that’s important.”

Issaquah pounced on Bellevue in the first quarter, jumping out to a 9-0 lead on a series of transition baskets. The Wolverines closed the gap to 11-7 at the end of the first quarter, but the Eagles went on another 12-2 run in the second quarter for a 26-11 halftime advantage.

Issaquah kept its double-digit cushion through most of the third quarter, increasing its lead to 19, 34-15, after Schiltz drilled one of her four three-pointers with 6:24 left in the quarter.

Bellevue began to chip away at the lead, cutting the deficit to nine, 36-27, with 23 seconds left in the third quarter via a pair of Taylor Cooke free throws. The Wolverines cut the lead to six on three separate occasions in the fourth quarter. Issaquah displayed its resilience, however, answering each Bellevue threat. The Eagles hit four of six free throws in the final minute to help secure the victory.

“The mental toughness is huge on our team and when we’re tired our bodies say no, but our hearts say go,” junior Maddey Pflaumer said. “That’s how we get it done.”

Catelyn Webber led the Wolverines with 13 points. Pflaumer and Schiltz led Issaquah with 14 points apiece. Eight of the 10 players on the Eagles’ roster scored at least two points — revealing one of the keys to the early-season success.

“We don’t play for ourselves, we play for each other,” Pflaumer said. “We play so well together, we have such chemistry on and off the court because we’re friends, and when we play, it’s just like magic.”

Issaquah is off until Dec. 29 when they face Holy Names at 10 a.m., at Bellevue Community College.