Times Observer photo by Steve Younger Clara Steinberg drives toward the hoop against North East.

RUSSELL — In a rare varsity twin bill of basketball featuring both the Eisenhower boys and girls Friday evening, the girls came from behind to hold up their end of the bargain with a 67-57 Region 3 victory over North East.

Eisenhower found itself down 24-12 at the end of the first quarter.

“We came out of the locker room flat and the offense was sluggish,” said Knights head coach DJ Steinberg. “They took advantage of that.”

The second quarter belonged to the Knights, Clara Steinberg began to heat up as she had a pair of 3-pointers and 10 points in the quarter. Lainey Font added another 3-pointer and Tracey Jakubczak had 9 points in the quarter as Eisenhower took a 34-33 lead at halftime.

The second half was back and forth between the teams. Clara Steinberg added another 3-pointer during the third quarter, which saw Eisenhower extend its lead to four points at the close of the period.

The fourth quarter was a shootout for both teams, Font added a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws while Steinberg tallied 10 points including 5 of 5 from the free-throw line herself. The Knights were 13 of 16 from the charity stripe in the game.

Eisenhower was able to pull away late in the game thanks to some clutch free-throw shooting by Font and Steinberg, who combined to go 7 for 7 from the line in front of a large home crowd.

“Lainey Font had a couple of huge 3-pointers for us in the fourth quarter and Clara’s floaters and free throws were clutch for us when we needed them most,” Coach Steinberg said. “Samantha Childs’ rebounding was key for us in the second half. Jakubczak had a big first half, but when she got hurt, Childs stepped right up … she found ways to be in the right spot. I thought that Miranda Gates had a great defensive game, she was put in a tough spot when Laney Belcher fouled out, but she played well.”

Clara Steinberg led all scorers with 32 points.

Jalyssa Wicker led North East with 19 points.

NORTH EAST (57)

Mayo 0 0 0, Probst 4 0 9, Post 5 0 12, Skelly 4 3 11, Miller 0 0 0, Wicker 8 3 19, Nishnick 0 0 0, Kaiser 1 0 2, Holdsworth 0 0 0, Hartner 1 2 4. Totals 23 8 57.

EISENHOWER (67)

Jakubczak 4 2 10, Font 4 4 15, Childs 1 0 2, Belcher 2 0 6, Alcorn 1 0 2, Gates 0 0 0, Steinberg 11 6 32, Waite 0 0 0. Totals 22 12 67.

3-point goals–Probst, Post 2, Font 3, Belcher 2, Steinberg 4.

North East 24 9 8 16 — 57

Eisenhower 12 22 14 19 — 67