By Kyle Howard, Photos by Kurt Howard

The Chief Sealth Seahawks hosted the Evergreen Wolverines Tuesday night for a non-league game at Chief Sealth high school. There wasn’t much of a crowd, with Winter break just starting the gym was less full than usual. Chief Sealth has been having a great season so far, having won their last 3 games prior to the Evergreen match up outscoring their opponents 166-86. They are in first place in the Metro League Sound Division with a 3-1 conference record and 5-2 overall. Evergreen has been struggling this season with a 1-7 overall record, their only victory this season is their first of the past several seasons, coming against winless Rainier Beach. “We’re seeing improvement every game, as long as we keep improving and playing as a team I’m satisfied with that”, said Evergreen head coach Tasha Hicks. “They always fight till the end and don’t give up; they have a lot of heart”.

Fast break points and causing turnovers was a key for the Seahawks as they won 65-33. Chief Sealth’s defense dominated, they caused over 40 Evergreen turnovers throughout the game, and were able to take advantage on steals that turned into easy breakaway layups. Chief Sealth’s Mariah Rubio-Reboca scored a game high 15 points, Zoe Haywood, Victoria Elleby, and Lecresha Taylor also finished in double digit scoring. Evergreens Ticka Alefaio led the Wolverines with 13 points.

Chief Sealth head coach Katie Jo Maris was pleased with how their defense played, “I’m trying to put a lot of pressure on defense, I want them up on the ball instead of waiting back for the ball to come to them; we played with a lot of intensity and took some good steps today”. The Seahawks playoff hopes are bright for now as they remain in first place, but they will soon see some challenging games in January.