Interlake is 0-6 against Hazen since December of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Interlake Saints will look to defend their home court against the Hazen Highlanders at 6:30 p.m. Hopefully Interlake focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Monday.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to post eight more assists than your opponent, a fact Interlake proved. They walked away with a 48-41 win over Sammamish. The win was just what Interlake needed coming off of a 72-32 defeat in their prior matchup.
Interlake's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Quinn Price led the charge by scoring 16 points. That's the first time this season that Price scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Cammy Roed, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Hazen came up short against Mercer Island on Wednesday and fell 60-48. Hazen has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Despite their loss, Hazen saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Dakota Nap, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Nap hasn't dropped below two steals for seven straight games. Makenna Garrett was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with nine rebounds.
Interlake's win bumped their record up to 3-8. As for Hazen, they now have a losing record at 8-9.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's contest: Interlake have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 4.8 threes per game. However, it's not like Hazen struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 4.5 threes per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Interlake was dealt a bruising 58-31 defeat at the hands of Hazen when the teams last played two weeks ago. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Nap, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds. Now that Interlake knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.