MILL CREEK — What business did the Jackson girls basketball team have playing leapfrog on their home court?
Actually, the Timberwolves enjoyed the childhood game only in theory after prevailing 60-52 against the Mountlake Terrace Hawks last week in a key Western Conference South Division contest.
Desperately needing a victory, Jackson came through to snap a four-game losing streak and leap over Mountlake Terrace for a half-game lead in the fight for the league’s fourth and final Class 4A district tournament berth.
“We came out pumped up to play tonight,” first-year Jackson coach Jeannie Howell said after the game, in which Timberwolves posts Sam McCracken (20 points) and Emilee Eisinger (27) combined for 47 points.
Jessica Buxton of Terrace made two free throws to tie the score at 45-45 with 6 minutes, 14 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but McCracken and Eisinger combined to outscore the Hawks 13-7 after that to clinch the win.
“It feels really good,” said Eisinger, a 6-foot senior who scored 14 of Jackson’s 26 first-half points and snared a team-best 11 rebounds. “We were just really fired up. If we wanted to go any further we had to win tonight.”
Jackson’s lead shrunk to four points, 41-37, by the end of the third quarter. Led by senior forward Erin McEntire (21 points, a team-high),
Mountlake Terrace began forcing turnovers with its press and seemed ready to overtake the Wolves. But McCracken, a 5-10 junior, scored 10 points in the final 6:05 as Jackson refused to crumble.
“We adjusted,” she said, “and we came back.”
The next night the Timberwolves dropped a 48-38 game to Shorecrest to drop back into a tie with Mountlake Terrace.
But Friday night’s victory gave the Timberwolves a two-game series sweep and thus the head-to-head tiebreaker should the teams finish with the same league record.
Jackson defeated the Hawks 55-53 on Jan. 8 in Mountlake Terrace.
Mountlake Terrace worked hard to stick with a 2-3 zone designed to collapse on and smother Jackson posts McCracken and Eisinger, but the Wolfpack used good ball movement and interior passing to foil the strategy.
“They’ve got two dynamite inside players,” Mountlake Terrace coach Kim Stewart said of McCracken (16.5 points per game) and Eisinger (15).
Howell is grateful to have the inside duo, who combine to score 65 percent of Jackson’s points.
“Once they get a hold of the basketball,” Howell said, “it’s pretty hard to stop them.”
They’ll need to keep it up, and the rest of the Timberwolves must continue to take care of the ball. “Every game is crucial right now,” said Howell, a 1998 Everett High graduate. “The key for us tonight was turnovers.”
As in a lack of turnovers — Jackson committed more than 30 in their previous game, a 54-36 defeat at Everett. Against Terrace, Jackson recovered and had about 20 miscues, much closer to their season average. Jackson will try to repeat the feat when it travels to play Shorewood at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Friday, Feb. 13).
The Wolfpack wrap up their regular season Tuesday night at home against Kamiak.
Mountlake Terrace plays at Everett 7:30 p.m. tonight and finishes its Wesco 4A South slate on Feb. 19 at Mariner. One more loss might spoil the Hawks’ playoff dreams.
“We’ve gotta come up with a couple wins,” Stewart said. “It’s pretty simple.”
Regardless, Stewart is extremely proud of his team, which was picked to finish near the bottom of the division. “Everybody told them (the Hawks) they didn’t belong in the playoffs. They’re fighters. They’re not listening to any of that stuff.”NOTES
SENIOR HONORS: Jackson’s Emilee Eisinger is among the 2,500 high school seniors from across the country that have been nominated for the 2004 McDonald’s All-American game. The third annual girls game will be played March 31 in Oklahoma City, Okla.
The 2003 McDonald’s All American teams will be announced in February on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
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