MILL CREEK — One word came out of Lynnwood coach Jon Rasmussen’s mouth repeatedly before last week’s game against Jackson — defense.
In the first meeting between the two teams in mid-December, the Timberwolves’ frontcourt combination of Sam McCracken and Emilee Eisinger came up big. McCracken scored 29 points, while Eisinger had 12 in a 16-point Wolfpack win.
There would be no repeat performance, as the Royals kept Jackson’s duo in check for most of the night on the way to a 47-41 victory in a Western Conference 4A South Division Jan. 24 at Jackson High School.
Eisinger, who still managed to score a game-high 18 points, found herself swarmed by the Lynnwood defense whenever she looked for the ball. McCracken was held to only four points.
“We wanted to double-team (Eisinger),” said junior guard Molly Hunsinger. “They have outside shooters but they look inside 10 times more than they do outside. Defense was our focus the whole game.
“We knew that they looked inside to Eisinger and McCracken and our defense on them was our main goal in the locker room.”
Rasmussen was happy with his team’s defensive effort but what really stood out to him was Lynnwood’s response to a disastrous start.
The Timberwolves jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first two minutes before the Royals came storming back.
Lynnwood went on an 18-2 run the rest of the quarter and took an 18-12 lead into the second quarter, a lead that the Royals never relinquished.
“I’m probably more impressed by the first quarter,” Rasmussen said. “Usually I panic but I felt confident for some reason and before I knew it, it was 10-6.”
Junior forward Amanda Crain led the charge, scoring eight of her team-high 11 points in the first quarter. Crain connected on a pair of 3-pointers and then made a third to start the second quarter.
“Our big thing is just playing our game and playing our tempo — not the other team’s tempo,” Hunsinger said. “Jon had us just slow down and play at our pace and that’s when our shots started to drop and everything started to come together for us.
“(Crain) gave us the spark that we needed.”
Lynnwood stretched the lead to 15 points late in the second quarter before Jackson’s Erin Dreghorn made four straight free throws to cut the deficit to 31-20 at halftime.
Jackson drew to within six points at the end of the third quarter and cut the lead to four points twice in the four quarter but Lynnwood kept its composure and the lead.
“They (Royals) switched their game plan from the first time we played,” Jackson coach Julie Iverson said. “When we played them at their place they manned us and they could not stay with us. Their big girls could not stay with our big girls and so to their credit, they came out in a zone and we could not knock the ball down.”
Rasmussen was having flashbacks to an almost identical game last year at Jackson in which Lynnwood led by five points with two minutes left and ended up losing by two.
The difference this season is that the Royals have the confidence to win the close games.
“If we can keep the games close, we’ve had a lot of success,” Rasmussen said.
Lynnwood can make the playoffs if it has a better record than the sixth-place team in the Northwest 3A League.
As of last week, the Royals (4-7 in the league, 6-7 overall) had the advantage over Burlington-Edison (2-6, 3-11).
“We need to keep winning to make playoffs,” Rasmussen said. “That’s our goal, which hasn’t been achieved in a long time.”
NOTES
TOUGH WEEK: Lynnwood coach Jon Rasmussen’s mind was elsewhere for much of last week. Rasmussen’s father passed away on Thursday, a day after the Royals’ 67-34 loss to Meadowdale.
Rasmussen made it to Thursday’s practice and was on the bench when the Royals beat Jackson on Friday.
“I kind of told them (players) I wanted to win this one for my mom,” Rasmussen said. “She was in the stands.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
