It was occasionally bumpy. It wasn’t always pretty. But the Issaquah girls could care less — they got the job done on Friday.

The Eagles overcame 20 turnovers and 35 percent shooting to beat Eastlake 44-34 for the Sea-King 4A District championship at Juanita High School.

“When we play tough (defense) like that you might say it looks kind of ugly, but that’s the thing – the girls play hard and if it’s low scoring like that, it’s kind of been in our favor,” head coach Kathy Gibson said.

Issaquah never trailed, taking the advantage 20 seconds into the game via a three-pointer from sophomore Blaire Brady. Eastlake tied the game twice, but the Wolves fell behind for good after the Eagle’s Heather Morris sunk a pair of free throws with 3:12 left on the first-quarter clock.

Issaquah pushed its lead out to 22-14 at halftime. The Eagles, who struggled in the third quarter and lost to Eastlake in their previous meeting, made it a point to keep the intensity up in the second half this time around.

“We lost in the third quarter, and that was our goal this time, to play the strongest third quarter,” sophomore Maddey Pflaumer said.

Pflaumer played a large role in keeping the Eagles motivated. The 5-foot-11 post scored all of her team-high 10 points in the second half — seven of those came in the third quarter.

Issaquah grabbed its largest advantage, 38-24, with 5:46 to go in the game.

Eastlake fought back, pulling to within eight, 42-34, on a Laura Bachman three-pointer with 1:18 to go. The Wolves had a chance to cut the lead to six with under a minute remaining, but couldn’t convert.

“We didn’t play our best basketball,” Eastlake head coach Scott Sartorious said. “We probably should have competed with them more. In the end, they earned it. Issaquah was the better team on the floor tonight.”

Eastlake was led by Bachman’s 10 points. The Wolves’ leading scorers, Ellie Martinez (14.5 ppg) and Alyssa Charlston (12 ppg) were held to seven and five points, respectively.

“Alyssa Charlston and Ellie Martinez are big threats and we just had to stop them, and we did,” Pflaumer said. “That’s how we won.”

Issaquah earned a No. 1 state seed from District 2 and a matchup with Jackson, the No. 3 seed from District 1, in the first round of the state tournament. This is the sixth time this decade the Issaquah girls have advanced to state and the fourth trip in the last five years.

“When you’re going to the state tournament … you want to be playing your best – at least really close to your best,” Gibson said. “Winning this game just gives you that momentum.”

Eastlake earned the No. 2 seed from District 2 and a meeting with District 3 champion Auburn Riverside.

“This team hasn’t been to state since 1997 and I don’t want to just sit back and say ‘great we made it to state, look at us,'” Sartorious said. “We’re here, we have an opportunity and we’re going to do everything we can to compete at state and push this program even further.”

The double-elimination 4A state tournament starts Wednesday at the Tacoma Dome. Eastlake plays at 9 a.m., and Issaquah plays at 7 p.m.