Some wins have been a challenge, and some have been a breeze, but wins are wins and the Woodland Christian girls varsity basketball team has now reached 16 straight following a massive 70-5 victory over Sierra Delta League rivals Highlands Friday night.

The Cardinals (18-5, 10-0 SDL) entered Friday night’s road showdown two wins shy of last year’s massive 17-game winning streak. With the win, they moved one contest closer to tying the impressive feat.

“Our girls showed really good discipline in our game at Highlands, leading to an easy 70-5 win,” Cardinals head coach Shiloh Sorbello said. “Knowing that Highlands has not yet won a game, we focused on our passing, rebounding and sportsmanship. We played a soft man defense all game, not venturing beyond the three-point line, and required five passes before a shot in the first half. Everyone had at least 11 minutes of playing time and played great defense.”

After the first quarter, the Cardinals raced out to a 17-3 lead that ballooned to 26-3 at the half. The foot was on the gas pedal in the third quarter as the Cardinals outscored the Scots 27-2 before shutting them out in the fourth quarter 17-0.

“For the game, we only committed one foul, and we outrebounded the Scots 55-8, so our rebounding emphasis clearly paid off,” Sorbello said. “The girls did a great job crashing the offensive boards and rebounded 80% of our missed shots. On the other end of the floor, we only allowed Highlands to get one offensive rebound all game.”

Highlight performers were sharpshooter Elena Ganyo, who scored an incredibly efficient 13 points, including a four-point play, and had zero turnovers.

Bailee “The Worm” Broward was another bright spot, hauling down her usual double-digit rebounding performance with 13 boards to go with 7 points. Senior point guard Keziah Maldonado-Lemus, who turned 18 this week and has about a dozen college coaches calling about her, had a game-high 17 points, with five makes from downtown, to go with 7 boards, 5 assists and zero turnovers.

Siena Sorbello had her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Up next for the Cardinals will be a return home on Wednesday, Jan. 5, for a 6 p.m. SLD matchup against Golden Sierra. On Friday, they go for 18 straight wins when they hit the road to take on San Juan.

“We will continue increasing our competitiveness in practice in hopes of a long playoff run,” Sorbello said.