MARYSVILLE — In a unique twist, both the Arlington and Marysville Pilchuck basketball teams and their fans got to celebrate a win Friday night.
Unfortunately for Arlington, its celebration was short lived.
With 5.8 seconds remaining in the game, Marysville Pilchuck’s Bryce Juneau ran the length of the floor and got up a shot that rolled off the rim — and right to Tomahawk guard Cole Grinde — who put it back in at the buzzer to give Marysville Pilchuck a 54-53 victory in its Wesco 3A North opener.
The officials originally ruled the basket no good, causing the Arlington fans to erupt in excitement — and the Tomahawk fans to voice their displeasure. After a discussion by the officials, the basket was counted, and the roles reversed.
“I feel like there was a bunch of people that (videotaped) it and it was indeed legit. That makes me feel a heck of a lot better,” said Marysville Pilchuck coach Bary Gould. “I have so much respect for (head coach) Nick Brown and Arlington. They battled back. We had them pretty good in the first half and they came back in the fourth quarter and took the lead. Then we responded. It was a heck of a basketball game whether we won or lost that.”
Gould drew up the play for Juneau, who ran all the way down the floor with the aid of a pair of screens by his teammates. Grinde raced down with him and ran to the hoop.
Just in case.
“All the hard work we’ve done, it was really emotional,” said Marysville Pilchuck junior Nate Heckendorf. “We came out here — had a lead at first — but they came back. They’re a great team. After Cole hit that great shot, it was breathtaking. That was an awesome shot.”
After trailing by as many as 15 in the second quarter, Arlington outscored Marysville Pilchuck 40-27 in the second half and came within six seconds of recording its third consecutive comeback of 15 or more points.
“My hats off to Marysville. They played a heck of a game tonight,” Brown said. “Their kids played their tails off. They wanted it. We wanted it. It was just a good battle.”
Brown said he protested the game’s final score, but wasn’t optimistic it would change the outcome. Either way, he said his team needs to move on from this game and get ready for the rest of the Eagles’ Wesco 3A North schedule.
“I tried to protest but I don’t know if it’s going to do any good. I don’t think it’s a protestable call because it’s a clock thing,” Brown said. “I filed a protest but I don’t know if it’s going to do anything. … The kid made a play. They played a great game. I have no issues. They scored one more point than us. But our kids played so hard, and they battled so hard and we had a tough first half. But the second half they just came out and battled and I’m so proud of them.”
One person who was sure the basket was good: Grinde.
“I told my teammate (Josh Bevan) that I was going to make it if Bryce missed,” Grinde said. “I went down, followed it up and I made it. I heard it. I heard the buzzer. Right when I tipped it up the buzzer went off. I knew it was good.”
Michael Painter led Marysville Pilchuck (1-0 league, 7-2 overall) with 17 points. Juneau added 12, Aaron Herrera netted nine and Grinde finished with seven — all coming in the fourth quarter as the Tomahawks held off a surging Arlington squad.
“I think it’s a situation where you go through the gamut of emotions: high highs and low lows — it epitomizes the game of basketball,” Gould said. “But the reality is those are good, early tests. Two tough teams battling it out and really that’s what high school basketball is all about.”
Nathan Aune scored a game-high 27 points for Arlington (0-1, 8-3). Drew Bryson (17 points) had two deep 3-pointers to spark a 9-0 Eagles run at the start of the fourth quarter and Brennon Wiersma appeared to give Arlington the victory with a putback with 5.8 seconds to go in the game that put the Eagles ahead 53-52.
Until Juneau and Grinde stole the victory away for Marysville Pilchuck.
At Marysville Pilchuck H.S.
Arlington 4 9 22 18 — 53
Marysville Pilchuck 13 14 11 16 — 54
Arlington—Tylor Morton 3, Donovan Sellgren 6, Nathan Aune 23, Cole Kingsberry 0, Drew Bryson 17, Connor Bovard 0, Brennon Wiersma 4, Jeremy Bishop 0. Marysville Pilchuck—Bryce Juneau 12, Bryce Vitcovich 3, Josh Bevan 2, Michael Painter 17, Cole Grinde 7, Zach Verge 0, Aaron Herrera 9, Nate Heckendorf 4. 3-point goals—Morton 1, Bryson 3, Painter 1, Herrera 3. Records—Arlington 0-1 league, 8-3 overall. Marysville Pilchuck 1-0, 7-2.
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