EVERETT — Everett boys basketball head coach John Richer knew how important this game was.
The former Seagull basketball player had experienced the Bru-Gull Fest — the annual game between crosstown rivals Everett and Cascade — as a player. Friday night he experienced it for the first time as a head coach.
And he had a great time.
“I was pretty nervous for this one,” the Seagulls’ first-year coach said.
Richer got his inaugural win as Everett defeated the Bruins 56-47 in a nonleague game. The Everett girls made the night a Seagulls sweep by beating Cascade 51-20 in the first game.
Regardless of the outcome of the games between Everett and Cascade, half of Reg Scodeller Gymnasium was going to be happy and half was going to be sad. Everett made sure its fans went home happy.
The Seagull boys used a 14-2 run in the second quarter to pull away in the game. Cascade, the host of the 2012 Bru-Gull Fest, hung around for the final two quarters, but was never able to pull within six points of Everett.
Jace Chacon had a double-double for Everett, finishing with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Reece Hoiby had 11 points and five rebounds and Nolan Rogge added 10 points for the Seagulls.
Before the game, Richer tried to treat the Bru-Gull Fest as business as usual. But, he admitted, he knew at the time it was going to be a bit crazier than usual.
“We prepared for it just like any other game,” Richer said. “But I could feel the energy in the locker room before the game was a little higher. We tried to keep it the same, but it was different.”
It was the first head coaching win for Richer, who last played at Everett in 2000 and spent the past six seasons as an assistant at Edmonds-Woodway. He was happy to get that first win under his belt, but quickly passed the credit along to his players.
“I’m just happy with how our kids handled adversity,” Richer said. “Cascade played really hard. It’s a lot of fun to play in a game like this.”
The Cascade and Everett fans competed in the stands as well, trying to drown out each other’s chants. “Bruin power” meshed with “Seagull power” making “power” really the only audible word.
Cascade got out to the early lead with a 10-7 advantage after the first quarter. But Everett’s second-quarter run gave them an 11-point halftime lead. The first half featured 10 fouls apiece on either team, which led to foul trouble for several players later in the game.
Senior Enrique Gonzalez led the Bruins with 15 points. Steven Gallardo netted 10 points — before fouling out with seven minutes to play in the game — and Casey Bergmans added eight points, including a one-man 5-0 run late in the fourth quarter that kept Cascade close.
But Steven Tran made a shot the next time down the court after using up the entire shot clock that all but sealed the win, giving the Seagulls a 53-44 advantage with 22 seconds remaining.
The Seagulls helped themselves out from behind the 3-point arc as well. Everett hit a key 3-pointer in every quarter that either ended a Cascade offensive rally, or sparked an Everett one.
“It’s nice (to get the first win),” Richer said. “It feels really good. It’s all because of the players. They’re buying in and playing hard. … It was a good team win.”
In Bru-Gull Fest’s first game, the Everett girls jumped out to a 29-7 lead at halftime, thanks in large part to the Rielly sisters, who accounted for 24 of the Seagulls’ 29 first half points, en route to a 51-20 win.
Sidney Rielly, a junior, finished with team-high 20 points for Everett. Her younger sister Darian added 12 points for the Seagulls, who improved to 2-0 overall. Katie Weir (eight points) led Cascade.
Between the boys and girls games was a ceremony honoring the second class inducted into the Cascade Athletics Hall of Fame. Twelve individuals were honored: Lou Stevenson, Jeff Cushman, Neal Bartlett, Kelly Warren, Vicki (Borsheim) Beskind, Charlie Cobb, Grady Sizemore, Whitney Hooks and the Henderson family — Dick, Pat, Chris and Sean.
Boys game
At Cascade H.S.
Everett7251212—56
Cascade10111313—47
Everett—Steven Tran 9, Reece Hoiby 11, David Popach 4, Nolan Rogge 10, Corey Lee 0, Will Richardson 3, Cal Knapp 0, Sam Tollefson 0, Jace Chacon 15, Sam Arends 2, Noah Juarez 2. Cascade—Cameron McGrath 0, Brevin Brown 4, Casey Bergmans 8, Steven Gallardo 10, Nick Benenati 0, Isaiah Gotell 3, Enrique Gonzalez 15, Justin Gordon 5, Jack Nazy 0. 3-point goals—Tran 1, Hoiby 1, Rogge 1, Chacon 1, Brown 1, Bergmans 2, Gordon 1. Records—Everett 1-2 overall. Cascade 0-2.
Girls game
Everett15141012—51
Cascade5294—20
Everett–Kiki Harper 4, Bailey McMullen 0, Sydney Taggart 4, Darian Rielly 12, Sidney Rielly 20, ETenika Wentworth 7, Rayme Rogge 0, Rosie Sittauer 3, Amber Hagar 1, Katy Hedington 0. Cascade–Natalie Watson 6, Katie Weir 8, Chellyn Perea 0, Taryn Salter 0, Emily Mallos 2, Makinlee Sellevold 0, Brianna Punkiewicz 0, Bostyn Kelley 0, Kennedi Smith 3, Morgan Joyce 1. 3-point goals–D. Rielly 2. Records–Everett 2-0 overall. Cascade 0-1.
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