SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Eagles (0-2) fell short 57-37 at home to the Cascade Christian Academy Wolverines. Head Coach Mingo Scott called the result a game of two stories.   

“When we were able to run our offense and get into stuff, we made positive runs and were able to score as a team. When we couldn't get into our offense, guys went one-on-one too much, and that led to turnovers and runs going the opposite direction,” Scott said.   

The Eagles fell behind early after a fast start by the Wolverines. CCA jumped out to a 17-2 lead before Scott called a timeout to help his players reset. From there, they were able to run their system to eventually tie the game 36-36 in the third quarter. However, after a player sprained his ankle, the Eagles scoring run stopped and the Wolverines pulled away in the fourth quarter to seal the win.  

“When my backup point guard sprained his ankle, my third string point guard couldn’t get us in that offense, and again, it went the opposite direction, where we went to playing too much one-on-one and not running in the system, which led to turnovers and kind of led to the eventual 20-point loss,” Scott said.   

When the offense is functioning how it’s supposed to, it’s like a machine, Scott said. Players operate from certain spots on the hardwood which helps them set up screen plays, or who gets to cut or weave through the defense. It all runs through the point guard who serves a similar role to the quarterback, directing traffic and guiding his teammates through the play they want to run.   

Scott said when this did not happen, that's when the game fell apart at times for the Eagles.   

“When we're able to run that, and guys are able to be in the spots, all five guys know what they're supposed to do,” he said. “When one guy doesn't run the system, and four other guys don't know what's going on, it tends to break down, and that leads to turnovers, and that's where the game got away from us.”  

The Wolverines offense operated with a fast tempo that allowed them to score off fastbreaks and utilize ball movement to find easy buckets. Scott said the Wolverines’ Gage Smith had the biggest impact on the court. He said Smith excelled at rebounding and scoring in the post.   

“We weren't able to block him out very well in the zone. I think he was the dominant factor, because they either scored inside, or they'd go inside and kick it back out to wide open shooters, because we were having to pay so much attention to him in the post,” he said.   

The young Eagles roster had eight players available to them Wednesday. After the game, Scott emphasized playing as a team going forward. When they were able to do that, they found success scoring, he said.   

“The message is, ‘Guys, we’ve got to play together. We’ve got to know what we're doing. We’ve got to be in our positions, and we’ve got to rebound and play a little bit better defense if we want to be competitive.’ We're pretty young right now. We're missing a lot of guys, so I'm just trying to hold the ship together till we get our full team,” Scott said.   

The Eagles are searching for their identity, Scott said. When the offense runs how it’s supposed to, they can score off high percentage shots.   

“It's about focus and discipline, and that's all basketball is. It’s playing together. You’ve got to play as a team,” he said. “We can work it out in practice. We've got to have a cohesive unit (and) until we get there, we're going to struggle.”  

The Eagles return to the court on Dec. 12 on the road to face Oroville at 7:30 p.m. Going forward, Scott and the Eagles are focused on finding more consistency.   

“Being focused on discipline, getting on the same page and having fun while we're trying to get better,” Scott said.   

    Chris Heaps (0) guards a Cascade Christian Academy player on defense Wednesday. Head Coach Mingo Scott said the Eagles need to improve running the offense as a team.
  

    The Eagles’ Nazar Goloborodko (23) dribbles the ball around a Cascade Christian Academy player on a fastbreak during their game Wednesday.
  

    The Eagles’ Andres Lopez (12) walls up on defense during their game against Cascade Christian Academy on Wednesday.