A big first-quarter lead made a big difference for the Arlington girls basketball team.

Coming off a loss against league favorites Snohomish, Arlington drew Lake Stevens in a Dec. 10 clash at home against a team that has owned the series in recent years.

A 16-5 lead after eight minutes proved useful as the Vikings — never out of the game — rallied with 17 points in the second quarter to close on the Eagles.

“We jumped out a little bit, but they were right in it. They’re an athletic team. We are too,” said Arlington coach Nathan Davis of his team, that went on to win 59-51. “It was a good battle. We tried to focus on shutting them down defensively and we did a pretty good job.”

Four of the team’s five starters scored and three more added points off the bench. Seniors Kyra Prause led the team offensively with 23 points, 10 boards and six steals. Junior Quinn Kesselring added six assists and five points while senior Sheryl Scheppele had 10 points, with six coming from three-point range.

While many leading teams flail coming out of halftime, the Eagles had their strongest quarter with 19 points.

“We have a pretty good rotation,” Davis said. “Kandace Evans has been playing really good off the bench, Good defensive intensity. She did a nice job in the Lake Stevens game too, defensively.”

With seven girls scoring, including three in double figures, Davis holds up the Lake Stevens game as the kind he hopes to see more of from his team.

The key to another 18 points off the bench, he said, is passing the ball.

“When we do that we should be able to get multiple girls in double figures,” he added. “That would be ideal.”

The girls improved to 1-1 in league with the win and hope to have a better idea of where they’re at after a long week at Stanwood (Dec. 17), at home against Monroe (Dec. 19) and at M-P (Dec. 20).