In a Nisqually league battle of top ten ranked 1A boys basketball teams, the Cedar Park Christian Eagles blew out the Cascade Christian Cougars 81-43 Wednesday in Bothell.

After a close first quarter with a lot of effort and fouls to slow down 6-foot-10 Cougar center Shawn Spencer, the Eagles opened up a 14-point lead during the second quarter.

Cedar Park senior Evan Scholten countered Spencer’s layups with high percentage 10-foot shots just out of range of Cougar defenders.

“We made a conscious decision as a team after the last game to play together,” said Scholten, who finished with 17 points.

The Eagle bench helped build momentum going into the half with a great diving loose-ball save by guard Ben Anderson with eight seconds left, leading to a buzzer beating 3-pointer by forward Anthony Almeida.

After halftime, Cedar Park Christian widened the lead with 3-point buckets by Trey Drechsel and layups by Luke Saufferer. Each finished with 20 points to lead the Eagles.

“It was a great effort from the team tonight,” said Cedar Park Christian coach Adam Lynch. “Our guys executed very well defensively in the second half and did a nice job of sharing the ball.”

The Eagles improve their record to 5-0 in league play and 9-0 overall. The Bothell team will face Life Christian on the road at 5:15 p.m. on Friday.