By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
The (10-2) Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks basketball team hosted the (2-8) Orcas Christian Saints at Francy J. Sheldon gymnasium on Wednesday, January 18. It would be the first game of a four games in six days stretch for Tulalip.
The Lady Hawks came out firing, behind the hot hands of guards Keryn Parks and Aliya Jones, and outscored the Saints 33-14 at halftime. The hot shooting continued in the 2nd half as the girls seemingly couldn’t miss and built their lead to 55-23 going into the final quarter.
With the 30-point lead, the bench players got plenty of run in the 4th quarter. At games end, Tulalip won in dominant fashion 67-34. Keryn led all scorers with 22 points, Aliya had 19 points, and Georgie Randall added 9 points.
Two days later, the girls hit the road and traveled to Lopez Island to play the (6-2) Lobos. Offense was hard to come by in the early going, with both teams playing top notch defense and contesting every shot. Finally the Lady Hawks broke through and went on a decisive scoring run made possible by good ball movement and not settling for long jumpers. The Tulalip girls went on to win 47-26.
Playing on the shortest rest possible, the Lady Hawks hosted the Darrington Loggers the very next day. In the 1st quarter, Aliya hit two 3-pointers as part of a strong offensive attack for Tulalip. They led 14-7 going into the 2nd quarter. The defense let up a little and allowed the Loggers to go on a run and get back into the game. At halftime the home team led by only four points, 24-20.
The Lady Hawks aren’t used to being up by so little going into the 2nd half and used that as extra motivation to play lock down defense over the game’s final sixteen minutes. They held the Loggers to only 5-points in the 3rd quarter and then only a measly 3-points in the 4th quarter. Meanwhile, the Lady Hawks were executing their offense led by Keryn down the stretch.
When the final game buzzer sounded, Tulalip had turned their 4-point halftime lead into an 18-point victory, 45-27. Aliya and Keryn each scored 13-points to lead all scorers.
One day’s rest is all the girls got before returning to the court on Monday, January 23 to host the Lopez Lobos. The game also marked Senior Night for Aliya Jones, Myrna Redleaf and Cyena Fryberg.
It was a back and forth game in the 1st quarter with both teams trading baskets. Tulalip held a slim 12-8 lead going into the 2nd quarter before Keryn caught fire from deep and knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers. After hitting a couple jumpers, Aliya added a 3-pointer of her own. Cyena added three the hard way by sinking three free-throws. The Lady Hawks defense was playing at its peak hustling for all loose balls and contesting every shot. As a team they corralled nearly every possible rebound and held the Lobos scoreless in the 2nd quarter. The girls used a 19-0 run to take a 31-8 halftime lead.
The scoring barrage continued into the 3rd quarter with Keryn adding two more 3-pointers and Deachae Jones hitting two 3-points as well. The Lady Hawks won the 3rd quarter 18-7 on their way to another dominant victory, 59-22. Keryn led all scorers with 18 points, Aliya added 12 points and Deachae had 11 points.
The win marked the 10th W in a row for the girls and keeps them unbeaten in league play. Also, the latest W puts them back into 1st place in the Northwest 1B league with a (14-2) record. Another big matchup is upcoming with #2 seed Cedar Park Christian this Friday in Mountlake Terrace.