Thoughts from Edmonds-Woodway girls victory over Mountlake Terrace

It’s hard to sort out the key points of a basketball game when a player does what Natalie Kasper did on Tuesday night.

Kasper scored 32 points, including 25 in the first half in a 61-50 victory over Mountlake Terrace. I will start with Kasper because her performance was so phenomenal. Before the season for the basketball preview had a category of the player most likely to score 40 points. Between coaches votes and our own thoughts we gave that category to Jackson’s Kelli Kingma in the Wesco 4A South. Kasper made her case for it on Tuesday. She is a player that can keep the Warriors in a lot of games with her shooting. Though, she can’t be on every night and the Warriors need the players around her to step up.

Seyi Olajoyegbe had a very good second half for the Warriors and if she can contribute offensively it gives the Warriors another weapon and should open up the perimeter for Kasper.

Another impressive thing is that the Warriors are very young, most notably Kasper is just a sophomore. This is a team that should improve a lot throughout the season and should be a team to watch not just for the remainder of this season, but in upcoming years.

Kasper is also the younger sister of Madeline Kasper, who starred at Edmonds-Woodway for four years. If her younger sister keeps up the hot shooting and great play, she should challenge some of the scoring marks her sister put up.

Despite the loss, Mountlake Terrace is a team to watch as well. They also are a young team with just two seniors. They jumped out to an early 16-2 lead over Edmonds-Woodway before Kasper went nuts and showed great potential. Coach David Brophy was quick to point out that this is a nonleague game and doesn’t count in league records.

Samantha Romanowski, a sophomore, was very impressive in the loss. She scored 15 points, including a quick eight early in the first quarter. She also turned in a very solid defensive performance against Kasper in the second half.

Going forward, the Hawks should get much better and be a team to watch in the 3A Wesco South.

Note: Edmonds-Woodway’s Sidney Eck missed the game after a minor injury in practice on Monday, but coach Duane Hodges expects to have her back for Friday’s game against Jackson.