SAMMAMISH — One of the highlights of the inaugural Eastside Catholic Hoops Showcase on Monday was a matchup that featured two 11-2 teams, one ranked sixth in the state and the other just barely on the outside of the top-10 looking in.
Wilson, the sixth ranked team, and Glacier Peak, appeared to be a great matchup on paper.
By game’s end it proved to be a learning experience for the Grizzlies and Wilson proved itself worthy of its ranking, racing to an early lead and never letting it go, winning 77-55.
“They’re definitely a top-five team,” Glacier Peak head coach Brian Hunter said. “They have aspirations of not going to state, but winning the state tournament. Those are probably valid hopes for them. For us, it’s a chance to see what we can be, how we can play and where we need to go to get to the level that we want to get to.
“I think we learned a lot about what it takes to kind of take that next step.”
Offensively, the Rams were too much for the Grizzlies to overcome. Wilson put up 44 points and shot over 60 percent from the field in the first half.
“They shot the ball so well,” Hunter said. “They are very difficult the way they can attack the rim and shoot the basketball.”
The Grizzlies didn’t have an answer for Wilson junior guard David Jenkins, who scored 20 points before halftime and helped the Rams build a 45-25 lead.
The lead proved to be insurmountable, but the Grizzlies defense did clamp down on Jenkins in the second half, holding him to just two more points.
“He did a really nice job of getting to the basket and he shot the ball well from three as well, but we were trying to make him earn a little bit more,” Hunter said of the defense’s second-half effort against Jenkins. “For whatever reason, his looks were maybe a little too easy for him in the first half, so in the second half I think we played a little bit more focused as a team on defense and collectively the guys did a little bit better of a job of finding him and making him work a little bit.”
The improved defense helped Glacier Peak slowly chip away at the Wilson’s lead. Glacier Peak was never able to get any closer than 12 points in the second half, but Hunter saw his team battle throughout and some individual performances the team can build on.
Junior Zach Argue and his older brother, senior Jacob Argue, have both struggled with injuries at times this season. On Monday, both played well in spurts. Zach scored nine of his 11 points in the first half and Jacob scored all five of his in the fourth quarter.
“They battled and we need that out of those guys,” Hunter said. “They have different skill-sets, but one thing that they both do is they both play extremely hard.”
Other players played well at times for the Grizzlies, but overall they just didn’t shoot the ball well enough to win. The poor shooting started with a 3-for-11 effort in the first quarter and persisted through the majority of the game.
“I felt like we actually had shots that we wanted to shoot,” Hunter said. “We had some inside stuff that I thought was pretty effective. Our guys have hit those shots all year. It’s high-school sports and it’s basketball. Those (shots) don’t always go in.”
The Rams were able to extend the lead back up to 20-plus late in the fourth quarter, but the Grizzlies never stopped putting out maximum effort, something that Hunter said is a good sign with his team in the hunt for a Wesco 3A South championship.
“It’s a simple play and it doesn’t mean a whole lot and it doesn’t show up in the scorebook, but with 10 seconds to go Austin Petz was diving for a loose ball in front of our bench. To me, that’s how you win league championships, district titles and go to state. Our kids our ingrained with the fact that they play as hard as they can and our kids put effort on the floor.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
At Eastside Catholic H.S.
Glacier Peak 10 15 18 12 —55
Wilson 21 24 15 19 —77
Glacier Peak–Zach Hatch 1, Austin Petz 5, Logan Preece 0, Connor Seed 0, Brady Southard 6, Grant Peltier 0, Brendan Tetrault 13, Justin Guffey 10, Jacob Argue 5, Zach Argue 11, Kyle Dvorak 0, Jacob Middendorf 2. Wilson–Dom Hammond 10, David Jenkins 22, Yoel Yisrael 0, Ezalas Reubel-Harris 0, Demachae Booth 0, Emmett Matthews 6, Keun Palu-Thompson 7, Elijah Cotton-Welch 20, Montre Brown-Lofton 10. 3-point goals–Guffey 2, Tetrault 3, Jenkins 2, Cotton-Welch 5, Matthews 2. Records–Glacier Peak 11-3. Wilson 12-2.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
