Mount Si’s girls basketball team can bring good offense. And they can bring hot defense. Now, they just need to put it all together.

The Wildcat girls nearly had the Issaquah Eagles last Wednesday, Dec. 17, before a cold third quarter slowed things. Issaquah finished, 62-47.

Senior Elizabeth Prewitt was the Wildcat’s top scorer, putting up 18 points, including several three-point long shots. Fellow senior Madi Bevens scored 10 points.

The Wildcats tried hard in the last half to walk a line between pressuring Issaquah and avoiding fouls, but still getting calls.

“We were trying to be aggressive,” Prewitt said. “A big lesson is know when to foul, try to avoid it.”

She did her best to rain threes as the clock counted down, adding a couple in the second half.

“I knew we needed points. I took what was available.”

“A big lesson we learned tonight was fouling and sending teams to the free throw line,” said Prewitt.

The Eagles scored 21 points from the line, significant compared to their lead.

“We picked up on it early,” Prewitt said. “They were good free-throw shooters.”

Prewitt shouted out fellow senior Madi Bevens: “She was going hard. Her defense was good, she was talking a lot on defense, being a leader out there.”

“We played good as a team,” said sophomore guard Emma Smith. “We had good atacking on our offense. We just had to stop their points and watch our fouls…“We had our hustle,” she added. “They way they killed us was on fouls.” Smith is working on developing her passing game, finding better passes and openings.

Annie Hiebert took a seat after a fifth foul late in the game to pressure the Eagles.

“Seeing that makes me realize she’s all about her teammates,” head coach Taylor Bass said.

On Wednesday, he said the Wildcats’ five-out, motion offense was clicking, making it their most productive night of the season. But there’s still work to be done.

“It’s constantly getting in to look for those lanes and be aggressive,” Bass said. “It’s something that will come with time.”

He wants to see more chatter on defense and more trust on offense.

“We knew we had a lot of hard work in front of us,” Bass said. “Four-A is a little bit taller, a little bit stronger, more physical, better shooters” than 3A. For the Wildcats, “it’s keeping on working hard, trying to compete every single day and get each other better,” that will spell success.

All of the Wildcats play hard, Bass said; Some play harder still, such as the physical Hayden Frederick and Madi Bevens.

He also praised Camryn Buck, who delivered Wednesday on rebounds.

“Thats the thing we need from her, defensive intensity,” Bass said. With Buck’s height, “that’s where she’s going to make a big difference for us.”

“I want to see us put it all together and get it going,” Prewitt said. “Other games, we’ve had a better defensive game. I want to see us be mentally tough.”

Next up, the girls host Skyline at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3. The Mount Si girls also put on the 2015 Wildcat Classic basketball tournament, Jan. 17 to 19, for teams of boys and girls in grades 4 through 8. Learn more at www.mshsgirlsbasketball.com.