A whole flock of T-birds lifted the East girls to a 10-0 record in the Cook Inlet Conference on Wednesday night with a 69-49 home win over West.
"They're just so deep," said West coach Stanley Engel, whose team briefly led in the second half before East pulled away. "Everybody on that team can play basketball."
Tannae Voliva scored 20 points to lead a balanced East attack that got 13 points from Sandin Kidder,12 from Taria Page and nine from Kalo Uhila.
East opened on a tear, getting nine points in the first quarter from Voliva to grab a 25-11 lead. But West hung tough, eventually pulling ahead 39-38 early in the third quarter when Marshala Eady got fouled on a lay-up and made the ensuing free throw.
"I was very pleased with how they battled," said Engel, whose team fell to 4-6 in the CIC.
From that point on it was all East. Voliva had another nine-point quarter to help the T-birds take a 51-45 lead going into the fourth and they clamped down on defense in the final quarter, holding the Eagles without a field goal for the final eight minutes.
Voliva said East played well at times, but she added that if the T-birds want to make a run at a conference title they can't afford to ease up.
"That's definitely our biggest thing, is consistency," she said.
The win kept East one game ahead of second-place Dimond, which improved to 9-1 with a big win over Service on Wednesday. East handed Dimond its only conference loss of the season, but the two teams still face each other once more, on Feb. 24 at Dimond.
Voliva said the 10-0 conference record is nice, but it doesn't mean East can coast to the CIC title.
"We're happy but we have a long ways to go," she said.
Other winners on Wednesday included Bartlett over Eagle River and Chugiak over South.
Dimond 86, Service 29
Dejha Canty poured in 21 points in the first half and finished with 23 on Wednesday to spark Dimond's 86-29 CIC trouncing of host Service.
Canty had 12 points in the first quarter to help the Lynx to a 28-2 lead. Three others scored in double figures for Dimond -- Rohyn Huss (19), NeChelle Martinez (11) and Justin Anderson (11).
Leading the way for Service (2-8) was Nalani Foma'i with 10 points and Courtney LaPoinde with nine points.
Bartlett 60, Eagle River 16
Tala Lauvale supplied 11 steals, eight rebounds and five points Wednesday for Bartlett in a 60-16 CIC win at Eagle River.
Damaiya Ward scored a game-high 16 points to go along with eight steals and Tiffany Michaels added 12 points and six steals for the Golden Bears, who improved to 2-8 in the CIC.
Shade Gopie's six points topped Eagle River (0-10).
Chugiak 66, South 58
A balanced offense for Chugiak offset Isabel Lada's huge game for South in the Mustangs' 66-58 CIC win Wednesday.
Lada pumped in 26 points but it wasn't enough for the Wolverines (6-4), who also got 10 points from Zulai Cole. Julia Turner buried two 3-pointers for Chugiak (7-3) in the final two minutes to break open a close game.
Turner finished with 11 points and was joined in double figures by teammates Ashlynn Burgess (14 points), Randi McMullen (13), Nicole Pinckney (11) and Carley Stone (10).
2014-15 CIC Girls Basketball Standings (through Feb. 18)
East 10 0 1.000
Dimond 9 1 .900
Chugiak 7 3 .700
South 6 4 .600
West 4 6 .400
Bartlett 2 8 .200
Service 2 8 .200
Eagle River 0 10 .000
Wednesday's results:
East 69, West 49
Dimond 86, Service 29
Bartlett 60, Eagle River 16
Chugiak 66, South 58