MARYSVILLE — Each team in Thursday night’s contest between Marysville Pilchuck and Stanwood enjoyed one half significantly more than the other one.
For Marysville Pilchuck, it was the first two quarters, which saw the Tomahawks take a 35-28 lead into halftime.
However, it was Stanwood that got the last laugh, with the Spartans outscoring Marysville Pilchuck 59-29 in the final two quarters to defeat the Tomahawks 87-64 at Marysville Pilchuck High School.
“We weren’t real hungry in the first half,” said Stanwood head coach Zach Ward. “They outplayed us in the first half. Loose balls and rebounds were two things we stressed. That’s learning to be the hunted and not the hunters. Everyone’s excited to play you. I don’t think we matched their energy in the first half. That corrected itself in the second.
“I’m just proud of how our kids bounced back. I think the second half is more indicative of how we want to play and how we have been playing.”
Stanwood responded to its first-half deficit almost immediately, with the Spartans beginning the third quarter with a 13-4 run. Junior Bryson Kelley scored seven in that stretch and helped Stanwood to a 55-49 lead at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth, the Spartans continued to pile on. They doubled up Marysville Pilchuck, outscoring the Tomahawks 32-15 in the final period, to keep Stanwood (5-0 league, 11-4 overall) undefeated in the Wesco 3A North.
“It’s kind of a tale of two halves where we felt like we had a good gameplan going and were being aggressive and picking some stuff apart,” said Marysville Pilchuck head coach Bary Gould. “Then they make an adjustment at halftime … and we start passing to them instead of each other and that’s kind of a recipe for disaster.
“We know them well. We’ve played them tons of times and scouted them a few times already. It’s one thing to know what they do and another thing to be able to beat what they do.”
Ward said that he has two distinct halftime speeches, and went with a calmer approach in Thursday night’s contest.
“We’re kind of at a point now where they know it’s business when I get fired up and yell,” Ward said. “We can also have just a frank conversation with them, like, ‘Hey guys. What’s going on?’ Sometimes, just as much can be done by selective words than yelling and screaming and going on a rant. I would say that this halftime talk was more of a, we’ll say, ‘calm conversation.’
“A one-sided conversation.”
Ward’s speech worked. Stanwood junior Chase Strieby scored 14 of his team-high 21 points in the second half to go along with 11 rebounds. Kelley finished with 14 points, Isaac Olson scored 17 and AJ Martinka added nine for the Spartans.
“Huge game for (Strieby),” Ward said. “We roll 10 deep. You saw that tonight. You don’t know who it’s going to be. It’s a different guy every night. We’ve got a couple of guys who lead us in scoring. We have some different options. We try to expose different mismatches, that’s what it is. Tonight, we tried to get the ball inside.”
Stanwood’s balanced scoring attack makes the Spartans tough to defend, according to Gould.
“That core of juniors on Stanwood’s team, they’re just incredibly deep and incredibly balanced,” he said. “You try to shut down one of them and another steps up. They just stay the course and they don’t get rattled. They do a really good job there.”
Josh Bevan scored a game-high 30 points for Marysville Pilchuck (3-2, 4-10) — including 18 in the first half.
“You can rally around that and his leadership is incredible as well,” Gould said. “He’s really versatile. In the past three years he’s really been a spot-up shooter and now he can sprinkle in some penetration and lay-ups and some and-ones. With Bryce Juneau being out for the season, he’s had to step up.”
Bevan came up during Ward’s halftime speech.
“He’s a great shooter, but he does a great job of getting to the hole too,” Ward said. “So, you have to contest him out to about 25 feet, and then he has the ability to put the ball on the floor and get in the paint. So, it’s really hard to get out and guard at 25 feet and continue to follow him. He seemed to find his way to the hoop. Credit him. I know he had 18 in the first half and that was one of our conversation topics at halftime.”
Gould said there were plenty of positives from the game for his side, including the fact that the Tomahawks kept pace with the league-leading Spartans through three quarters.
Now, he hopes Marysville Pilchuck, which finds itself tied for second in the league, can maintain that throughout the contest in its next matchup with Stanwood in both teams’ regular-season finale on Feb. 8.
“Basketball’s a game of runs. We made ours in the first half and they made theirs in the third quarter and into the fourth,” Gould said.
“In the first half we proved that we can play at that level, so now it’s just a matter of sustaining it for an entire game. … I feel like, physically, we’re right there with them. Psychologically and mentally, they’re a little bit tougher than we are right now. To me that’s a good problem because you can fix that.”
At Marysville Pilchuck H.S.
Stanwood14142732—84
M. Pilchuck17181415—64
Stanwood—AJ Martinka 9, Bryson Kelley 14, Cameron Plautz 4, Carter Garcea 0, Chase Strieby 21, Matt Vail 0, Henry Oldow 11, Karl DeBoer 3, Isaac Olson 17, Austin Wilhonen 3, Nate Kummer 2, Trygve DeBoer 3. Marysville Pilchuck—Hunter Whitney 3, Josiah Gould 4, Josh Bevan 30, Tommy Haefele 0, Erik Lind 4, Raequan Battle 14, Freddy Brown 2, Tyler McDonald 0, Nate Heckendorf 7. Records—Stanwood 5-0 league, 11-4 overall. Marysville Pilchuck 3-2, 4-10.
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