The Lady Wildcats went over the hill and down the valley for an

away game with Issaquah Tuesday night. Unfortunately, it was the Indians

who delivered the good old-fashioned whuppin’, dominating the `Cats by

a score of 63-22.

It was one of those nights where nothing went right for the ladies.

The Indians outscored Mount Si 23-4 in the first quarter and then slowed just

a wee bit, but the Wildcat offense never got untracked and was unable to

catch up by any measure. The team scored only 18 points in each of its final

three quarters, while giving up 23 turnovers.

The game was probably as physical as the previous near miss

with Newport, but despite the tussling on the court, Issaquah kept getting

the baskets. The Wildcat shooters attempted to get their team back in

the game by firing away from the corners; the shots usually missed and the

Indians grabbed the majority of rebounds. When the Lady `Cats did get a

score, Issaquah immediately ran the ball back down the court and got their

own two.

Issaquah hit the 40-point mark with four minutes left in the third

and arrived at 50 with 6:31 remaining in the game.

The Wildcats went down gamely, firing away and pushing when

shoved, but the Indians held the hot hands and stronger defense. With time

running out, Mount Si’s Moriah Hover lofted the ball from three-point range, but

it clanged off the rim just as the buzzer sounded.

It was just that kind of night.

Hover and Kristen Travis finished with six points each while

Nicci Landdeck led her team with eight. The loss put the Lady `Cats at 1-7/3-11

and in rough shape for their Friday night face-off with Valley

Division-leading, 6-2 Liberty.

In that game the Lady `Cats proved they had not lost their spirit,

particularly after their debacle with Issaquah. Unfortunately, despite a strong

20-point effort by Lindsey Ratcliffe, the ladies from Mount Si fell short

when the final buzzer sounded by a margin of 59-49.

The Patriots started off with a 6-0 run and kept it up from

there, outpointing the Wildcats in every quarter except the final frame. The

Lady Pats relied on hot shooting to give them a 29-19 advantage going into

the half and never allowed Mount Si within a few points. Landdeck

recorded 10 points in the losing effort, followed by Hover’s nine. The

normally steady Raisio only contributed one point on a foul shot.

With a 1-8 KingCo 3A record and four games to go, the Lady

Wildcats’ hopes for post-season are starting to recede faster than the lights of a

freight train in the night. However, they’ll try to turn things around again this

week when they face Skyline and Interlake.

Friday night’s contest with the Saints is at Mount Si. The JVs start

at 5:45 p.m. with the varsity following at 7:30 p.m.