Girls Hoops: Eagles Top Marshall This Time

Since losing two heartbreakers consecutively to Marshall and Wilson, the Eagle Rock girls basketball team has been preparing for Round Two against the Barristers and Mules.

After Wednesday night’s 63-52 win over Marshall, the Eagles are halfway toward avenging both losses.

“Last time we played them it wasn’t our best game,” said junior guard Adriana Garcia, who led the Eagles with 21 points. “Mentally we weren’t there. And (tonight) we fixed that.”

Eagle Rock (16-6, 5-2 in the Northern League) broke open a close game with a dominating 17-4 third quarter to build a 47-31 lead.

Although Marshall (7-12, 5-2) closed the gap to five in the final stanza, the Eagles finished the game with a 12-6 flourish.

“Our one-point loss at their house was very upsetting,” said Jessica Loya, who scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. “We told ourselves that when this day came, we were going to leave everything on the court and play our hearts out and that’s exactly what we did.”

After junior forward Jasmine Ruiz left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter, the Eagles played with a smaller lineup for much of the game.

“Our little ones battled like crazy for rebounds and contested plays and did enough to win,” Eagle Rock coach Mark Kramer said. “We got in foul trouble ourselves, but we’re pretty deep. I thought that we did some really good things today.”

Garcia, Loya and Aaliyah Tihanyi combined for 14 of the Eagles 17 points in the decisive third quarter.

“I’m really proud of these girls because every practice we go in and get done what we need to get done,” said Tihanyi, who finished with 12 points. “We’ve mentally prepared ourselves for this game since we lost to them.”

Freshman Wendy Lo contributed nine points for the Eagles, five of which came on consecutive baskets. Lo hit a 3-pointer and then a two-point field goal to increase a 55-49 Eagle Rock edge to an insurmountable 60-49 lead late in the contest.

“It’s a really big win because they’re in our (playoff) division,” Kramer said. “We couldn’t afford to lose to them again. If they had beaten us today, they would have gotten seeded higher than us in the playoffs.”

Equally important is Friday’s game at Wilson when the Eagles will try to hand the Mules their first league defeat.

“I just can’t wait 'til Friday when we take on Wilson,” Loya said. “We’re going to do the exact same thing (as tonight) because we know that we have the skill to beat them. We’re gonna do it, there’s no stopping us.”

Said Garcia: “We just don’t know how good we could be. If we really try our best and are mentally and physically there, we can accomplish anything.”