By Kyle Howard

Holy Names visited Chief Sealth Wednesday Jan. 25th for a girls Basketball matchup. Chief Sealth has been struggling lately, losing four of their last five games while Holy Names has been hot all season with only one loss.

Holy Names ability to rebound was a huge key to their 72-40 victory over Chief Sealth. It seemed every time a shot was missed they had somebody down low to rebound, leading to plenty of second chance opportunities to score. The Cougar’s high pressure defense was also a big factor as they didn’t let up on the full court press causing Chief Sealth to turn the ball over 25 times.

The Seahawks struggled against the Cougar’s defense throughout the game, unable to break free from the full court man to man press. “Their defensive pressure really hindered our performance.”Chief Sealth head coach Katie Jo Maris said after the game. “We need to work on our mental focus when it comes to the pressure”. She added that the team seemed more bummed out after the loss than she’s seen before. The Seahawks are now tied in first place with Bainbridge in the Metro Sound Division. Bainbridge and Chief Sealth will play this Saturday Jan. 28th at Chief Sealth for a chance to claim first place.

Holy Names has been cruising all season long as their record now stands at 10-1 with their only loss coming from Seattle Prep. They are also ranked fifth in the state for 3A girls. CiCi West did a great job rebounding, especially considering this was her first varsity game as she just moved up from JV; she had 12 rebounds in the first half. Freshman Guard Janessa Willie took on the role of “shooter” for the game as she knocked down four three pointers.

Although Holy Names won big, their head coach sees room for improvement. “I think we could have done better, we had a lot of defensive misses as far as our press was concerned”. The team does have high standards considering their ranking for the state, it takes a lot to earn and maintain such a respectable status.

Both teams will play this Friday Jan. 27.Holy Names will be at Franklin high school and Chief Sealth visits Eastside Catholic.

Photos will be posted in an update.