WHS Girls Basketball Prevails, Boys Basketball Falls to Bothell

As in all sports, there’s nothing better than a rivalry game and last night’s rivalry games against Bothell sure didn’t disappoint.

The Lady Falcons played first, blowing out Bothell with a final score of 64-32.

The first Friday of Winter Break couldn’t have gone any better for these girls. They knew how to start off their vacation right before their team trip down to Arizona for a few days later in the break. 

Using their speed and half court defense to their advantage, the girls knew exactly how to executer and get the job done against their cross-town rivals.

Junior Erin Hamilton seemed to be everywhere-grabbing rebounds, second shot attempts, fast breaks, on the ground fighting for the ball; she was there.

In addition to Erin, junior Midori Mcelwee was a big offensive threat for the Falcons. With great form, her three balls just kept going on, one after the other. Her defense also played up to par, She used her size and quickness to her advantage and made her steals look effortless.

As always, senior Kim Frost played spectacular, making the hustle plays and speeding down court for easy lay ins and assists to her teammates.

The whole got a chance out on the court and all of them contributed to the Falcons success last night. Freshman Emily Spencer got in some good minutes and you could tell that she will be a player to look out for as she starts to grow and develop for the next 4 years.

After the rout by the Lady Falcons it was the Boys Basketball Team to show KingCo what they were made of.

However, coming into last night’s game against Bothell, the boys knew they were in for a lot.

With superstar and UCLA commit Zach Lavine on the floor, plus Perrion Callandret and Josh Martin, a 6’8” junior transfer from Seattle Prep, the Cougars looked quite intimidating. Actually, make that very intimidating.

In addition to going up against this huge Bothell team, who all are 6’1” or taller, the Falcons were without senior Quinten Parker-one of their biggest offensive threats and tallest players, standing at 6’5”.

Without Parker, basically all post play was shut down due to Bothell’s size and strength.

Due to Parker’s absence, the starting line-up also had a slight change. Freshman Tony Miller started alongside sophomore Zach Oates, two juniors in Jay Wyrick and Tommy Wick and only one senior, John Villasenor.

Whether it was merely lack of experience going up against teams like Bothell, or the size difference, the Falcons clearly struggled to keep up with this caliber of a team in Bothell.

However, the Falcons did put up a good fight in the first half, keeping it moderately close at halftime with Bothell only up 45-23.

The shooting ability of Lavine kept the crowds intrigued and the dunks from Bothell left the stands in awe, the Woodinville crowd included.

When Callandret pulled off an impressive wide-open windmill dunk off of his own steal, the stands erupted and it was quickly the most talked about play of the night.

In the 3rd and 4th quarters, Woodinville struggled find a true offensive rhythm, but senior Jake Miller hit some good three-pointers and Andre Dillard got in some points off close to the basket.  

With a final score of 93-57, it was clear who was the better team and clear that Woodinville still has a long way to go. However, there were some good moments during the game for Woodinville.

Giving freshman Tony Miller a lot of minutes will help him grow for the future and hopefully help carry this Woodinville team to victory in the years to come.

We all knew this was a rebuilding year and we will continue to watch the Falcons grow and develop.

Next games for both girls and boys teams will be out of state. The girls are going down to Arizona and the boys are heading down to Salem for a tournament. Safe travels to them both!