Mount Si’s girls basketball team gave great effort against a tough Eastlake Wolves team during play Friday, Dec. 4, at Sammamish.

But turnovers and missed shots down the stretch proved to be the difference as the Wildcats dropped their third straight game to open the season.

Despite an 11-point effort from sophomore post Sarah McDonald which led all scorers, Mount Si fell to the Wolves, 46-33. Traci Nelson had eight points. Six of those came in the first quarter, which saw Mount Si break out to a 7-4 lead midway through the frame before the Wolves rallied with a 9-0 run to close out the quarter with the lead themselves.

Despite that Eastlake rally, Wildcat coach Megan Botulinski was pleased with her team’s effort in the opening frame.

“I asked them to come out hard, and that first quarter was the best quarter that we’ve played this season already,” Botulinski said.

Eastlake built that lead to 29-18 at halftime, and despite a Wildcat comeback attempt in the third quarter, the Wolves were able to maintain the advantage and slam the door on the contest.

Hailey Eddings added six points to aid the Mount Si cause, while Alyssa Charlston and Kendra Morrison led Eastlake with 10 points apiece.

“We all came out aggressive and we weren’t as scared or intimidated because we knew that they were a good team,” Eddings said. “We came out strong, we did our best to fight back.”

One thing the Wildcats look to be developing is strong defense, as they forced quite a few Wolves turnovers, including three straight to start the game. Botulinski was thrilled.

“We started with a different press (defense) tonight, and we’ve been working on it the past two days in practice. They came out and did a great job, I think, on their rotations with the press,” the coach said.

Another component to the Mount Si attack that fans will see is depth. All players on the roster played in the contest, and got good minutes. Eddings thinks this will become a bigger factor as the season wears on.

“Our bench can come in and we can rely on them too,” Eddings said. “We have such a strong team that it’s like you can easily sub people in and not worry about losing (the) lead or anything.”

“We are all pretty equal,” teammate Kassidy Maddux added. “We all pretty much score the same points. We count on each other.”

Mount Si played in the Carly Stowell Invitational Tournament last Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, in Kent, and fell in both games. On Monday, the Wildcats could not get past Seattle Christian. Mount Si was defeated by Puyallup last Tuesday.

The Wildcats open league play next week, with a game at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11, at Sammamish. Maddux wants fans to expect the best from the team.

“We work hard every day at practice and we keep the intensity up all game,” the junior said.