Shorewood runs out of gas against Royals

Published 12:00 pm Thursday, January 24, 2008

LYNNWOOD

The Shorewood boys basketball team showed flashes of solid play in its match-up with Lynnwood.

But the good was outweighed by the bad, especially in the fourth quarter, as the Royals outscored the Thunderbirds 11-0 down the stretch to pull out a 48-34 victory in a Western Conference South Division boys basketball game Jan. 18 at Lynnwood High School.

Shorewood head coach Shawn Hall wasn’t overly critical or impressed with the Thunderbirds’ play in what was their 10th straight on-the-court loss.

Due to the use of an ineligible player, Shorewood has had to forfeit its Dec. 11 victory over Shorecrest and a Nov. 27 victory over non-conference opponent Hazen. (See related story on page 28).

“It wasn’t a bad effort. It wasn’t a good effort,” Hall said of Friday night’s loss. “I think we kind of collapsed in that fourth quarter.”

The Thunderbirds trailed by as much as nine points early in the fourth quarter, but then cut the deficit to three points — 37-34 — at the 3:22 mark on back-to-back 3-pointers by junior guard Daniel Pillay and sophomore guard Micah Mitchell.

But those would be the final six points Shorewood would score the rest of the game. Lynnwood senior guard Andrew Beatty responded with two straight baskets and three free throws to seal the victory. Beatty scored nine of his 13 points in the final 2:53.

“He’s been around and understands how to play in those situations,” said Lynnwood coach Landon Porter. “He takes care of the ball, finds the right option and is able to attack when it’s open.”

Lynnwood outscored Shorewood 16-8 in the final period.

“We kind of ran out of gas,” Hall said. “We’re running a little short. My bench is a little short. … Tonight the guys got a kind of tired.”

Hall also noted that senior guard Taylor Hartman and junior guard Tomas Sanchez are both nursing some injuries. Hartman’s hip isn’t 100 percent, while Sanchez’s back is bothering him.

Nevertheless Sanchez had the hot hand in the first quarter, helping the Thunderbirds jump out to a 16-8 advantage. Sanchez connected on four 3-pointers and finished the first half with 17 points. The 6-foot-1 junior, however, was limited to only two points in the second half.

“He’s a streak shooter,” Hall said. “I like it better when Tomas is using his dribble to get to his spot and shoot as opposed to standing and shooting. He can shoot better when he’s moving around and attacking the basket.”

Hall wants to see more movement out of Shorewood’s offense.

“We got to the point where we were getting kind of stagnant,” Hall said. “I don’t like the standing around. … I just wanted them to push the ball up a little bit.”

Porter didn’t like what he saw from his defense in the first quarter and altered the Royals’ approach in the second quarter. Shorewood’s constant movement on offense surprised Lynnwood.

“They kind of came out with a different style of play and that threw us off for a second and then they started hitting shots,” Porter said. “When they’re hitting shots and we’re not hitting shots, it looked like the momentum was going their way, and we had to do something to change that.”

So toward the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter, the Royals mixed up their defensive schemes. Lynnwood threw different defensive sets at Shorewood and the Thunderbirds struggled to adapt. Sanchez’s fourth 3-pointer of the game at the 4:52 mark was the only shot Shorewood connected on in the second quarter as the Royals outscored the Thunderbirds 14-3 to take a 22-19 lead into halftime.

“We started something and switch and do something to try and throw them off a little bit,” Porter said. “We called a couple of set plays and got some shots rolling.”

Lynnwood senior guard Spencer Hunsinger closed out the quarter with three 3-pointers. The Royals extended their lead to 30-22 late in the third quarter before the Thunderbirds closed the gap with 6-0 run to close to 30-28.

Lynnwood’s Hunsinger finished with 15 points, while teammate Simi Fajemisin scored eight of his 11 points in the second half.