Blaine Cruises Past Eatonville in District Matchup
By Steven Dion

Game two of three in the slate of girls Tri-District matchups on Thursday night at Lynnwood High School was a meeting between the Cruisers of Eatonville and a clever name for the school that essentially sits between the United States and Canada, the Blaine Borderites. These schools are separated by a few hundred miles so it would be interesting how unfamiliar opponents from different districts would match up with one another.

The Borderites caught EHS on their heels early as a handful of opening possessions led to easy buckets in the Cruiser zone. This forced an early timeout called by Davina Serdahl to wake up her team. When play resumed, Blaine kept their foot on the pedal as Eatonville was trailing 14-3 to start the game. Alexis McElwain and Taylor D’Vovec eached scored a dozen in the first half which outscored the entire EHS scoring output by nine points. Cruiser senior Lauren Pate countered with aggressive play by scoring all but two of Eatonville’s second quarter points. At halftime, Blaine grabbed a commanding lead at 29-15.

Down by double digits with sixteen minutes of play remaining, the Cruisers needed to go on a big run to climb back into the contest. Kaelyn Voss answered the call to an extent by commanding the EHS attack. She was able to notch seventeen of her team’s 29 second half points, including three from downtown. However, McElwain and Mandy Hayes kept their scoring output rolling down the stretch to preserve the Blaine lead. The Borderites’ ability to collapse into the interior when Eatonville attacked the rim prevented and disrupted many scoring opportunities. Credit the Cruisers for hanging tough despite giving up a big lead early and Blaine for not wavering after grabbing the initial momentum. When the buzzer sounded, Blaine earned a 60-44 victory.

Top Performers:
Blaine
Alexis McElwain-24 points

Eatonville
Kaelyn Voss-22 points