In the season opener, the Lightning  jumped out quickly on the Raiders as they raced to a 32-9  halftime lead, paced by Will Barry's 7 points. Eastview continued to roll in the second half as a balanced-scoring effort and a suffocating defense helped the Lightning to a 64-32 triumph. Essam Ibrahim led all scorers with 11 points, Nick Manders added 9, Idris Ahmed 8 and Will Barry 7.

 

In the home opener for the Lightning, the visiting Hawks got off to the quick start as they put on an offensive clinic in the first half. Chaska connected on eight three pointers and shot 70 percent from the field to take a big 43-22 lead into halftime. Eastview managed to stay within striking distance mostly due to the play of forward Jackson Bires who chipped in 11 points in the first half.

 

Despite coming out of the break with increased aggressiveness and energy, the Lightning still found themselves down 45-25 with 14 minutes to play. Then the tides started to turn. Eastview's trapping defense started to bring havoc to Chaska's offense. The Lightning turned the game into a track meet, pushing the tempo and scoring in transition. And most importantly, it was Eastview's turn to get hot from outside. Led by a three point barrage by Essam Ibrahim and a dominant inside game from Will Barry, the Lighting closed the game on a 45-20 run and got the comeback victory 70-65.

 

Jackson Bires led all scorers with a career high 20 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Essam Ibrahim scored all his 17 points in the second half to lead the comeback. Will Barry chipped in 12 and Nick Manders added 11.

 

The key play of the game came with 3 minutes to go and Eastview done 1, Bires got the ball inside, scored on a great move, was fouled and completed the three point play. From there, the Lightning would never trail the remainder of the game as they made 10-12 free throws down the stretch to ice the game.