The North Creek Jaguars and the Nathan Hale Raiders will round out the year against one another at at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (North Creek has three straight wins, Nathan Hale has five straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Last Friday, North Creek humbled Marysville Getchell with a 67-4 victory. That 63 point margin sets a new team best for the Jaguars this season.
| 12/20/24 vs Marysville Getchell | 6 |
| 12/18/24 vs Sammamish | 2 |
| 12/16/24 @ Marysville-Pilchuck | 1 |
| 12/11/24 @ Redmond | 1 |
North Creek had a senior duo take command as Seirat Bhullar went 5 for 10 on her way to 15 points and six steals and Jocelyn Tamayo made all 7 shots she took to post 16 points. With that strong performance, Bhullar is now averaging an impressive 2.1 steals per game. Paige Geller was another key player, putting up seven points and four steals.
North Creek was working as a unit and finished the game with ten assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Nathan Hale played a tough match on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were outmatched by Seattle Academy and fell 60-26. The Raiders were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 35-7.
Dominique Barker was Nathan Hale's leading scorer, having posted eight points. Aubrey Barker held things down on the boards with six rebounds. Varya Ermolenko took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with two assists.
North Creek pushed their record up to 5-3 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.8 points per game. As for Nathan Hale, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-6.
Keep an eye on the arc in Saturday's game: North Creek has been dynamite from deep this season, having nailed 37.3% of their three-pointers per game. It's a different story for Nathan Hale, though, as they've only made 18.9% of their three-pointers this season. Given North Creek's sizable advantage in that area, Nathan Hale will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for North Creek against Nathan Hale in their previous matchup back in December of 2017, as the team secured an 87-52 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for North Creek since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
