STANWOOD — Senior night for the Stanwood basketball team quickly turned into a showcase for two of the Spartans’ seniors.
Karsten Chaplik scored 27 points and fellow senior Skout Roberson added 24 points and eight rebounds as Stanwood defeated rival Arlington 87-73 Tuesday night in a Wesco 3A North contest at Stanwood High School.
“On senior night, those are two kids that have been in the program for four years and are just two just awesome kids,” said Stanwood head coach Zach Ward. “They’ve been great leaders with this group. They’ve really accepted the young guys. They’re going to remember that night forever. They’ll forget a lot of things but they’ll remember senior night — having that success — together.
“They’re two guys that are going to be buddies for the next 50 or 60 years. I’m sure they’ll be talking about (Tuesday) for a long time.”
Chaplik, Roberson and Derek Ross are the only three seniors on the Stanwood squad. All three started and scored in a first quarter that saw the two teams combine for 44 points.
The offenses stagnated a bit in the second quarter, with the Spartans outscoring Arlington 14-6 in the period, but ignited again after halftime.
“I think that’s kind of what both teams are,” Ward said. “Both teams have some really skilled offensive players and I think both shot at a high percentage. Shots kept going in. I don’t know if it was necessarily bad defense — some of them were really contested.”
Stanwood (8-0 league, 14-4 overall) led the entire second half, with Arlington closing the gap to four midway through the final quarter. But Chaplik responded with four of his nine fourth-quarter points to help the Spartans pull away.
“Stanwood shot so well tonight,” said Arlington head coach Nick Brown. “That was incredible. There was a point where I was wondering if they’d miss a shot.”
Nathan Aune led Arlington with 24 points and eight rebounds. Aune missed the previous matchup against Stanwood — where the Spartans were again victorious against the Eagles 79-62 on Jan. 16 — because of an academy soccer game in California.
“Nathan does a good job of getting to the rim and that opens up the game for our perimeter shooters,” Brown said. “He made some big shots in the first half.”
Donavan Sellgren and Drew Bryson added 14 points apiece for Arlington (4-4, 12-6).
“In the game that (Aune) didn’t play I think Bryson picked up his scoring load,” Ward said. “… It changes things (having him back). He’s a good player. He’s their leading scorer. Having him back does change, a little bit, what they do. But other guys step up.”
Stanwood’s hot shooting doomed the Eagles again this season. Stanwood defeated Arlington for the third consecutive time and fifth time in the two teams’ past six meetings.
“We’ve been on the other end of it the last couple of years, as far as going and sweeping teams,” Brown said. “We got swept tonight. We’ve got some learning to do. I’m proud of my kids. No question about how hard they played.”
AJ Martinka scored 10 points and grabbed five steals for the Spartans, who are coming into their own late in the season.
“We’re playing our best right now,” Ward said. “You always shoot to be playing your best when February starts. … The kids have stuck to the plan. It was rough sailing early in the year but they’ve just battled through and kept working and working and working.”
At Stanwood H.S.
Arlington 23 6 25 19 —73
Stanwood 21 14 24 28 —87
Arlington—Tylor Morton 2, Donavan Sellgren 14, Aaron Carlson 0, Nathan Aune 24, Cole Kingsberry 0, Drew Bryson 14, Connor Bovard 9, Brennon Wiersma 4, Jeremy Bishop 6. Stanwood—AJ Martinka 10, Quinton Borseth 6, Bryson Kelley 5, Austin Wilhonen 0, Chase Strieby 4, Cameron Plautz 7, Carlton McDonald 3, Derek Ross 1, Karsten Chaplik 27, Skout Roberson 24. 3-point goals—Sellgren 1, Bryson 2, Bovard 1, Kelley 1, McDonald 1, Chaplik 2. Records—Arlington 4-4 league, 12-6 overall. Stanwood 8-0, 14-4.
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