By Matt Phelps

mphelps@kirklandreporter.com

The Lake Washington girls basketball team traveled to Inglemoor High School Friday and despite the raucous home court advantage the Kangs came away with a 53-45 victory. The win, coupled with a victory Wednesday against Eastlake, improves Lake Washington’s record to 5-3 in league and moves the team into second place behind Woodinville.

The Kangs struggled a bit during the first few minutes of the game.

“The girls just needed to calm down against the press,” said Lake Washington head coach Cory Shepard. “We turned the ball over but it wasn’t from throwing it away. They were without their best player but this is a big win for us cause we are now solidly in second place.”

The struggles didn’t show up on the scoreboard, though, as the Kangs doubled their opponent’s point total during the first quarter, 14-7. But the Viking’s home crowd gave the team the adrenalin to tie the score by half time. A balanced attack on offense by the Kangs would prove to be the difference. Steady play led to seven different players scoring from the floor, as Inglemoor struggled to shut down the Kangs.

Kasey Coffey (14) and Colleen Walsh (11) led the Kangs on offense.

Lake Washington beat the Wolves 48-42 to begin the second half of the season.

The Kangs played a steady and consistent game against Eastlake, progressively building on their six-point first-quarter advantage. Eastlake made a slight run at the home team but could never get the contest back to less than a two-possession game. Lake Washington was led on offense by Sam Brender (11), Walsh (11), Katarina Whitfield (10) and Coffey (8).

The victory came on the heels of a winter break trip to California where, despite a record of 1-2, the team made many strides.

“The girls really got to know each other and had a good cultural experience in San Francisco,” said Shepard. The Kangs will have a chance to disrupt Woodinville’s perfect start as they host the team at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.