Published: Sunday, March 23, 2008
Bellingham takes care of Explosion
MONROE -- Wham, bam, meet the improved Slam.
The Bellingham Slam knocked the Snohomish County Explosion from the unbeaten ranks with a 115-108 victory in an International Basketball League game Saturday night played in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 984 fans at Monroe High School.
Minus point guard Jamal Miller -- ejected early in the second quarter after an altercation with Bellingham center Brian Dennis -- Snohomish County were down 13 points at halftime and never recovered against a Bellingham team that had six players in double figures and effectively shut down the Explosion's vaunted 3-point shooting.
"This feels good, we played them two weeks ago and it came down to Chris Weakley coming off the bench and making seven 3s," said Bellingham's Erroll Knight, a former Gonzaga standout. "This time we wanted to eliminate the 3-pointers, play solid defense and make them work for it and we did that."
With the West Division triumph Bellingham (1-1) got its first-ever IBL win and Snohomish County took its first loss of the season after opening with three victories.
"Jamal Miller, that's the whole thing in a nutshell," Snohomish County coach Randy Redwine said. "Without Jamal Miller we're not the same team. Without Jamal we don't have the leadership."
"Kyle Keyes is a good player but Jamal is our point guard and he does everything for us," Redwine continued. "I'm not making excuses though because Bellingham played good and deserved to win. They're a very good team and I tip my hat to them."
Miller was called for a flagrant-2 foul after a set-to with the 6-foot-6, 295-pound Dennis.
"Yogi (Dennis) is very good at setting screens and maybe crossing the line a little bit," Redwine said. "He gave (Miller) a little oomph and Jamal took exception to it. I don't fault Yogi and I don't fault Jamal."
Snohomish County trailed by 10 points entering the fourth quarter.
Donald Watts (26 points, 11 rebounds) had a steal and breakaway bucket followed by an off-balance jump-shot and the Explosion opened the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run to creep within 93-91 with less than nine minutes remaining, but the Slam would not give in.
A 3-pointer by Paul Hafford (19 points, seven rebounds), a put-back by Knight and a long jump shot by Ryan Diggs (20 points) helped Bellingham secure a 106-97 advantage with just over five minutes to play and it was too much for the Explosion to overcome.
Watts scored nine points in the first quarter including a 3-pointer on the Explosion's first possession of the game and the lead grew to 9-0 when David White knocked down a foul line jumper with 10:04 to play in the first quarter.
The advantage reached 13 points before the Slam used a trio of 3-pointers -- including a pair by Jared Stevenson (23 points) -- to key a 17-1 run and take a 27-24 lead with less than a minute remaining in the opening period.
Watts reduced the deficit to a single point with a pair of free throws, but drew his third personal foul in the waning seconds of a quarter that concluded with Bellingham ahead 29-28.
After Miller was ejected with 10:08 to play in the second quarter the Slam made a trio of 3-pointers in the next two minutes. Following one of the Explosion's 17 first half turnovers, Bellingham's Stevenson lofted a perfect alley-oop pass to Hafford and the Slam led 48-38.
Bellingham's bench outscored the Snohomish County reserves 33-11 in the first half, led by Brandon Hartley and Stevenson, who scored eight points apiece in the second period. The Slam's margin reached 15 points before they settled for a 61-48 lead at the break.
At Monroe H.S.
Bellingham 29 32 30 24 -- 115
Snohomish Co. 28 20 33 27 -- 108
Bellingham -- Hafford 19, Dennis 2, Knight 6, Jac. Stevenson 15, Diggs 20, Hartley 16, Jar. Stevenson 23, Henne 14. Snohomish County--James 22, White 6, Watts 26, Keyes 14, Weakley 9, Wright 5, Keller 14, Jones 2, Deaderick 1, Jones 9. 3-point goals--Hafford 3, Diggs 3, Hartley 1, Jar. Stevenson 4, Henne 1. Watts 1, Weakley 3, Keller 2. Records--Bellingham 1-1, Snohomish County 3-1.
The Bellingham Slam knocked the Snohomish County Explosion from the unbeaten ranks with a 115-108 victory in an International Basketball League game Saturday night played in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 984 fans at Monroe High School.
Minus point guard Jamal Miller -- ejected early in the second quarter after an altercation with Bellingham center Brian Dennis -- Snohomish County were down 13 points at halftime and never recovered against a Bellingham team that had six players in double figures and effectively shut down the Explosion's vaunted 3-point shooting.
"This feels good, we played them two weeks ago and it came down to Chris Weakley coming off the bench and making seven 3s," said Bellingham's Erroll Knight, a former Gonzaga standout. "This time we wanted to eliminate the 3-pointers, play solid defense and make them work for it and we did that."
With the West Division triumph Bellingham (1-1) got its first-ever IBL win and Snohomish County took its first loss of the season after opening with three victories.
"Jamal Miller, that's the whole thing in a nutshell," Snohomish County coach Randy Redwine said. "Without Jamal Miller we're not the same team. Without Jamal we don't have the leadership."
"Kyle Keyes is a good player but Jamal is our point guard and he does everything for us," Redwine continued. "I'm not making excuses though because Bellingham played good and deserved to win. They're a very good team and I tip my hat to them."
Miller was called for a flagrant-2 foul after a set-to with the 6-foot-6, 295-pound Dennis.
"Yogi (Dennis) is very good at setting screens and maybe crossing the line a little bit," Redwine said. "He gave (Miller) a little oomph and Jamal took exception to it. I don't fault Yogi and I don't fault Jamal."
Snohomish County trailed by 10 points entering the fourth quarter.
Donald Watts (26 points, 11 rebounds) had a steal and breakaway bucket followed by an off-balance jump-shot and the Explosion opened the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run to creep within 93-91 with less than nine minutes remaining, but the Slam would not give in.
A 3-pointer by Paul Hafford (19 points, seven rebounds), a put-back by Knight and a long jump shot by Ryan Diggs (20 points) helped Bellingham secure a 106-97 advantage with just over five minutes to play and it was too much for the Explosion to overcome.
Watts scored nine points in the first quarter including a 3-pointer on the Explosion's first possession of the game and the lead grew to 9-0 when David White knocked down a foul line jumper with 10:04 to play in the first quarter.
The advantage reached 13 points before the Slam used a trio of 3-pointers -- including a pair by Jared Stevenson (23 points) -- to key a 17-1 run and take a 27-24 lead with less than a minute remaining in the opening period.
Watts reduced the deficit to a single point with a pair of free throws, but drew his third personal foul in the waning seconds of a quarter that concluded with Bellingham ahead 29-28.
After Miller was ejected with 10:08 to play in the second quarter the Slam made a trio of 3-pointers in the next two minutes. Following one of the Explosion's 17 first half turnovers, Bellingham's Stevenson lofted a perfect alley-oop pass to Hafford and the Slam led 48-38.
Bellingham's bench outscored the Snohomish County reserves 33-11 in the first half, led by Brandon Hartley and Stevenson, who scored eight points apiece in the second period. The Slam's margin reached 15 points before they settled for a 61-48 lead at the break.
At Monroe H.S.
Bellingham 29 32 30 24 -- 115
Snohomish Co. 28 20 33 27 -- 108
Bellingham -- Hafford 19, Dennis 2, Knight 6, Jac. Stevenson 15, Diggs 20, Hartley 16, Jar. Stevenson 23, Henne 14. Snohomish County--James 22, White 6, Watts 26, Keyes 14, Weakley 9, Wright 5, Keller 14, Jones 2, Deaderick 1, Jones 9. 3-point goals--Hafford 3, Diggs 3, Hartley 1, Jar. Stevenson 4, Henne 1. Watts 1, Weakley 3, Keller 2. Records--Bellingham 1-1, Snohomish County 3-1.
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