Published: Friday, February 3, 2012
Snohomish boys earn share of Wesco North title
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Lake Stevens guard Devin Stoen (12) gets his shot blocked by Snohomish's Collin Kane (back) as Gabe Reichenberger (right) also defends on the play. Reichenberger scored a game-high 21 points as the Panthers' captured a share of the Wesco North championship.
SNOHOMISH -- Snohomish boys basketball coach Len Bone said he sometimes has trouble getting Gabe Reichenberger to shoot the ball.
Reichenberger came out of his shell Friday night, knocking down five of his six 3-point field-goal attempts and scoring 21 points as the Snohomish Panthers defeated the Lake Stevens Vikings 70-66 to wrap up a share of the Wesco North championship.
"He was huge with his shots and they were timely shots," Bone said. "He can shoot. We just have a hard time getting him to shoot sometimes."
Reichenberger hit his first three 3-pointers, including the game's opening basket. A fired up Reichenberger pumped his fist after sinking that first shot and the next time he got the ball, he didn't hesitate to put it up again.
"The coaches told me I need to keep shooting because I had a really bad game at Edmonds-Woodway (Jan. 25)," Reichenberger said. "They just told me to keep shooting so I was just letting it go tonight."
One thing is certain, Reichenberger knew what was on the line and the pressure never got to him.
"We had to win to get first place," Reichenberger said. "If we didn't win, we wouldn't get first so we wanted it bad and I wanted it bad too."
Snohomish (15-5, 11-4 in conference play) tied Stanwood for the North title.
The hot-shooting Reichenberger helped the Panthers' offense continue to score points as Snohomish's star guard, Luke Hamlin, scored just two points in the first half. Hamlin spent most of the second quarter on the bench in foul trouble.
"That was very difficult," Hamlin said of going to the bench. "I wanted to get out there. It killed me. I have played in so many basketball games that I know how to play (in foul trouble), but coach had to make a decision and my teammates picked up the slack."
No matter how badly Hamlin might have wanted back in the game, Bone said Hamlin wasn't going to play the rest of the first half.
"He could have said, 'Oh I will give you a hundred bucks,' but he wasn't going back in," Bone said.
It wasn't just Reichenberger who picked up the slack. Josh Baird got in on the 3-point shooting barrage, hitting timely threes in the first, third and fourth quarters. Baird's fourth-quarter three came with one minute, 48 seconds remaining in the game and all but clinched the victory for the Panthers.
The game was a back-and-forth affair throughout. The Panthers jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, but the Vikings rallied late in the period behind guard Dakota Tomson. Tomson scored nine points in the stanza, including his team's final seven, to help cut a nine-point deficit to five. Tomson picked up where he left off in the second quarter, adding six points to lead all scorers at halftime with 15. He finished the game with 20 points.
"We have been waiting for this for a while," Lake Stevens coach Mark Hein said of Tomson's performance. "He is more than capable of doing it. He has had a little bit of a tough year, but I'm excited for him and I'm excited for how that bodes for our team."
Behind Tomson, the Vikings led briefly in the second quarter and trailed by just two at the break.
The two teams continued to battle evenly through the first four minutes of the third quarter, but a Reichenberger 3-pointer halfway through the period sparked a Snohomish run that Lake Stevens never recovered from.
Hein said it was exactly the game he expected from two good teams, the difference being Snohomish came up with the big plays when it needed them.
"They played a really good game," Hein said. "They just made big shot after big shot."
The loss was disappointing for the Vikings, who had a chance to clinch at least a share of the Wesco North championship with a win, but Hein said his team is playing well at the right time.
"This was a really well-played game," he said. "At this point in the season, obviously you want to get the W, but more importantly, you want to be playing well.
"I'm disappointed that we didn't get the Wesco North title, but I'm optimistic about the way we performed tonight and how that will translate (to the playoffs)."
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Read his live blogs at www.heraldnet.com/prepzone, follow him on twitter @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
At Snohomish H.S.
Lake Stevens 13 17 12 24 -- 66
Snohomish 18 14 20 18 -- 70
Lake Stevens--Smith 16, Stoen 12, Rahn 2, Tomson 20, Gasca 14, Sanoh 0, Pahuokoa 2, Rothgeb 0. Snohomish--Yates 7, Hamlin 15, Stewart 14, Crippen 2, Baird 9, Reichenberger 21, Caldwell 0, Kane 2. 3 point-goals--Reichenberger 5, Yates 1, Baird 3, Stewart 1, Tomson 1, Gasca 2, Smith 1. Records--Lake Stevens 10-5 league, 13-8 overall; Snohomish 11-4 league, 15-5 overall.
Reichenberger came out of his shell Friday night, knocking down five of his six 3-point field-goal attempts and scoring 21 points as the Snohomish Panthers defeated the Lake Stevens Vikings 70-66 to wrap up a share of the Wesco North championship.
"He was huge with his shots and they were timely shots," Bone said. "He can shoot. We just have a hard time getting him to shoot sometimes."
Reichenberger hit his first three 3-pointers, including the game's opening basket. A fired up Reichenberger pumped his fist after sinking that first shot and the next time he got the ball, he didn't hesitate to put it up again.
"The coaches told me I need to keep shooting because I had a really bad game at Edmonds-Woodway (Jan. 25)," Reichenberger said. "They just told me to keep shooting so I was just letting it go tonight."
One thing is certain, Reichenberger knew what was on the line and the pressure never got to him.
"We had to win to get first place," Reichenberger said. "If we didn't win, we wouldn't get first so we wanted it bad and I wanted it bad too."
Snohomish (15-5, 11-4 in conference play) tied Stanwood for the North title.
The hot-shooting Reichenberger helped the Panthers' offense continue to score points as Snohomish's star guard, Luke Hamlin, scored just two points in the first half. Hamlin spent most of the second quarter on the bench in foul trouble.
"That was very difficult," Hamlin said of going to the bench. "I wanted to get out there. It killed me. I have played in so many basketball games that I know how to play (in foul trouble), but coach had to make a decision and my teammates picked up the slack."
No matter how badly Hamlin might have wanted back in the game, Bone said Hamlin wasn't going to play the rest of the first half.
"He could have said, 'Oh I will give you a hundred bucks,' but he wasn't going back in," Bone said.
It wasn't just Reichenberger who picked up the slack. Josh Baird got in on the 3-point shooting barrage, hitting timely threes in the first, third and fourth quarters. Baird's fourth-quarter three came with one minute, 48 seconds remaining in the game and all but clinched the victory for the Panthers.
The game was a back-and-forth affair throughout. The Panthers jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, but the Vikings rallied late in the period behind guard Dakota Tomson. Tomson scored nine points in the stanza, including his team's final seven, to help cut a nine-point deficit to five. Tomson picked up where he left off in the second quarter, adding six points to lead all scorers at halftime with 15. He finished the game with 20 points.
"We have been waiting for this for a while," Lake Stevens coach Mark Hein said of Tomson's performance. "He is more than capable of doing it. He has had a little bit of a tough year, but I'm excited for him and I'm excited for how that bodes for our team."
Behind Tomson, the Vikings led briefly in the second quarter and trailed by just two at the break.
The two teams continued to battle evenly through the first four minutes of the third quarter, but a Reichenberger 3-pointer halfway through the period sparked a Snohomish run that Lake Stevens never recovered from.
Hein said it was exactly the game he expected from two good teams, the difference being Snohomish came up with the big plays when it needed them.
"They played a really good game," Hein said. "They just made big shot after big shot."
The loss was disappointing for the Vikings, who had a chance to clinch at least a share of the Wesco North championship with a win, but Hein said his team is playing well at the right time.
"This was a really well-played game," he said. "At this point in the season, obviously you want to get the W, but more importantly, you want to be playing well.
"I'm disappointed that we didn't get the Wesco North title, but I'm optimistic about the way we performed tonight and how that will translate (to the playoffs)."
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Read his live blogs at www.heraldnet.com/prepzone, follow him on twitter @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
At Snohomish H.S.
Lake Stevens 13 17 12 24 -- 66
Snohomish 18 14 20 18 -- 70
Lake Stevens--Smith 16, Stoen 12, Rahn 2, Tomson 20, Gasca 14, Sanoh 0, Pahuokoa 2, Rothgeb 0. Snohomish--Yates 7, Hamlin 15, Stewart 14, Crippen 2, Baird 9, Reichenberger 21, Caldwell 0, Kane 2. 3 point-goals--Reichenberger 5, Yates 1, Baird 3, Stewart 1, Tomson 1, Gasca 2, Smith 1. Records--Lake Stevens 10-5 league, 13-8 overall; Snohomish 11-4 league, 15-5 overall.
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