Published: Saturday, February 11, 2012
4A Boys District Tournament: Hamlin leads Snohomish by Lake Stevens
Senior guard scores 24 points as Panthers beat Vikings 66-57 in district semifinal
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Snohomish's Gabe Reichenberger (24) blocks a shot by Lake Stevens' Devin Stoen (12) as Luke Hamlin (left) and Mitchell Stewart (right) look on.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Snohomish's Russell Crippen (20) and Mitchell Stewart (14) battle Lake Stevens' Devin Stoen for the ball in the first quarter.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Lake Stevens' Devin Stoen (left) and Snohomish's Russell Crippen (right) go for a loose ball in the fourth quarter.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Snohomish's Luke Hamlin (left) goes up and over Lake Stevens' Christian Gasca (right) for a basket in the first quarter.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Snohomish's Mitchell Stewart (left) and Gabe Reichenberger (24) surround Lake Stevens' Brady Pahukoa (center) as he goes to the hoop in the second half.
MILL CREEK -- The last time Snohomish and Lake Stevens met just over a week ago, Luke Hamlin found himself on the bench in foul trouble for much of the first half of the boys basketball game.
The Panthers senior guard was determined not to let that happen again Saturday night. Hamlin stayed on the floor, scored 24 points and led the Panthers to a 66-57 victory over the Vikings in a 4A District 1 semifinal game.
"Going into the game I knew I was not going to touch any of their players because I didn't want to sit on the bench again," Hamlin said.
Snohomish coach Len Bone has grown to expect the kind of performance he got out of Hamlin.
"He's a gamer," Bone said. "I'm glad we've got him in a Snohomish uniform."
With the win, the Panthers advance to the district championship game next Saturday night. They'll play Jackson, who defeated Stanwood 43-34 in the other semifinal. Lake Stevens plays Kamiak on Wednesday in a loser-out game.
No matter what the result of the district championship, the Panthers' victory over Lake Stevens gives them a spot in the state regionals.
"I'm so excited," Hamlin said of his team advancing to regionals. "It has been a goal since eighth grade going into high school. And I really never thought we would be able to accomplish it just with the way the program has been the last few years. But we put in the work and it's paid off. Words don't describe it, I'm just so excited."
Like the Panthers' Feb. 3 victory over the Vikings that clinched a share of the Wesco North title, the Vikings made Snohomish work for Saturday's victory.
The two teams traded baskets for most of the first quarter, but the Panthers started to pull away during the second and third periods. By the early moments of the fourth quarter, the Panthers had built a 16-point lead, but the Vikings had one final run in them. Lake Stevens used a 14-2 burst to cut the deficit to 59-55 with just two minutes remaining in the game.
"We're resilient," Lake Stevens head coach Mark Hein said. "This is a great group of guys, exceptional men of character. They are never going to quit. Unfortunately, we had too many defensive breakdowns tonight. We would get close and then we would give up a backdoor. We would get close and then we would give up an offensive rebound."
The Vikings' run seemed to take too much out of them as their shots faltered in the game's final minutes.
"It seemed like every opportunity that we had to hit an open shot at the end of the game just didn't work out for us," Hein said. "Maybe fatigue was a factor, I don't know. But the guys certainly left it out there playing hard."
Hein also credited Hamlin with a great offensive performance.
"He's just a great player," Hein said. "… We couldn't get him in foul trouble. He's just such a tough matchup because he can shoot it. He can post it. He can drive it. He had a good game. He played well."
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 Jackson H.S.
Lake Stevens 14 10 15 18 -- 57
Snohomish 16 16 18 16 -- 66
Lake Stevens--Smith 8, Stoen 16, Rahn 2, Tomson 10, Gasca 19, Sanoh 0, Pahukoa 2, Rothgeb 0. Snohomish--Yates 2, Hamlin 24, Stewart 16, Crippen 10, Reichenberger 7, Baird 5, Harris 2, Caldwell 0. 3-point goals--Hamlin 2, Stewart 1, Reichenberger 1, Baird 1, Gasca 2. Records--Lake Stevens 14-9, Snohomish 17-5.
The Panthers senior guard was determined not to let that happen again Saturday night. Hamlin stayed on the floor, scored 24 points and led the Panthers to a 66-57 victory over the Vikings in a 4A District 1 semifinal game.
"Going into the game I knew I was not going to touch any of their players because I didn't want to sit on the bench again," Hamlin said.
Snohomish coach Len Bone has grown to expect the kind of performance he got out of Hamlin.
"He's a gamer," Bone said. "I'm glad we've got him in a Snohomish uniform."
With the win, the Panthers advance to the district championship game next Saturday night. They'll play Jackson, who defeated Stanwood 43-34 in the other semifinal. Lake Stevens plays Kamiak on Wednesday in a loser-out game.
No matter what the result of the district championship, the Panthers' victory over Lake Stevens gives them a spot in the state regionals.
"I'm so excited," Hamlin said of his team advancing to regionals. "It has been a goal since eighth grade going into high school. And I really never thought we would be able to accomplish it just with the way the program has been the last few years. But we put in the work and it's paid off. Words don't describe it, I'm just so excited."
Like the Panthers' Feb. 3 victory over the Vikings that clinched a share of the Wesco North title, the Vikings made Snohomish work for Saturday's victory.
The two teams traded baskets for most of the first quarter, but the Panthers started to pull away during the second and third periods. By the early moments of the fourth quarter, the Panthers had built a 16-point lead, but the Vikings had one final run in them. Lake Stevens used a 14-2 burst to cut the deficit to 59-55 with just two minutes remaining in the game.
"We're resilient," Lake Stevens head coach Mark Hein said. "This is a great group of guys, exceptional men of character. They are never going to quit. Unfortunately, we had too many defensive breakdowns tonight. We would get close and then we would give up a backdoor. We would get close and then we would give up an offensive rebound."
The Vikings' run seemed to take too much out of them as their shots faltered in the game's final minutes.
"It seemed like every opportunity that we had to hit an open shot at the end of the game just didn't work out for us," Hein said. "Maybe fatigue was a factor, I don't know. But the guys certainly left it out there playing hard."
Hein also credited Hamlin with a great offensive performance.
"He's just a great player," Hein said. "… We couldn't get him in foul trouble. He's just such a tough matchup because he can shoot it. He can post it. He can drive it. He had a good game. He played well."
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 Jackson H.S.
Lake Stevens 14 10 15 18 -- 57
Snohomish 16 16 18 16 -- 66
Lake Stevens--Smith 8, Stoen 16, Rahn 2, Tomson 10, Gasca 19, Sanoh 0, Pahukoa 2, Rothgeb 0. Snohomish--Yates 2, Hamlin 24, Stewart 16, Crippen 10, Reichenberger 7, Baird 5, Harris 2, Caldwell 0. 3-point goals--Hamlin 2, Stewart 1, Reichenberger 1, Baird 1, Gasca 2. Records--Lake Stevens 14-9, Snohomish 17-5.
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