LAKE STEVENS — The day before his team’s rematch with Arlington, Lake Stevens girls basketball coach Randy Edens gave his team a simple math lesson: Two is less than three.
Apparently it stuck.
After allowing Arlington to bomb away from behind the arc with impunity in their first matchup — a 77-51 loss in which the Eagles hit 16 3-pointers — the Vikings held Arlington to only one 3-pointer Friday night in a 55-41 win that kept Lake Stevens’ slim hopes for a Wesco 4A North title alive and gave them the inside track for the No. 2 seed.
“I told them turn those 16 3s into twos,” Edens said. “I’d rather see us go chasing and make them put it on the floor than give them an open look. (Their 3-point shooting) was certainly a topic of discussion at yesterday’s practice.”
Lake Stevens’ Brittney Pahukoa led all scorers with 14 points, but the senior guard did more than just score to contribute to the win. Besides handling the ball for much of the game and running her team’s offense, Pahukoa grabbed 10 rebounds and had four steals.
“I think honestly at times we take her for granted what she does,” Edens said. “She does so much. If you ask her to get double-digit in rebounds she’ll do that. If you ask her to score she’ll do that. She was spectacular.”
It was the second game back for Brittney’s sister, Brooke, who missed more than a month with a finger injury. Brooke scored 13 points and had two steals in a key stretch to open the second half that saw Lake Stevens outscore Arlington 10-0.
Edens said he was happy to see Brooke mix it up a little more than in her first game back this past Wednesday. “Wednesday she wasn’t quite there yet,” Edens said. “Today she put it on the floor and made some medium-range shots. She even got on the floor after a ball … even though I was like ‘No, not you.’ “
There was a scary moment for Vikings fans late in the third quarter when Brooke was kicked in the shin and hobbled to the bench in obvious pain. Less than a minute later Brittney was poked in the eye just before the buzzer ending the third quarter. Both players returned to the game to start the fourth qurater.
Jessica Ludwig led Arlington with 12 points and Veronica Ladines had nine rebounds for the Eagles, who played without Lindsay Brown. The star post was still ailing from a sprained knee she suffered in Saturday’s game against Stanwood.
At Lake Stevens H.S.
Arlington 7 12 11 11 — 41
Lake Stevens 8 16 19 10 — 55
Arlington—Taylor Graham 0, Veronica Ladines 6, Krista Showalter 2, Emma Janousek 8, Jessica Ludwig 12, Winter Brown 3, Jayla Russ 8, Lyndsay Leatherman 2. Lake Stevens—Alex Briggs 6, Mallory Gipson 2, Chelsea Pahls 2, Cassidy Fifield 2, Brittney Pahukoa 14, Emily Vandegrift 2, Brooke Pahukoa 13, Kali Long 12. 3-point goals—Brittney Pahukoa 1, Brown 1. Records—Arlington 10-2 league, 15-3 overall. Lake Stevens 8-4, 12-6.
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