E-W boys clinch No. 1 seed

Published 11:18 pm Friday, February 1, 2008

EDMONDS

The Edmonds-Woodway boys basketball team took care of business in its past two games.

As a result, the Warriors are headed back to the district playoffs as the No. 1 4A seed.

Edmonds-Woodway’s 61-51 victory over district rival Mountlake Terrace on Jan. 25 clinched a district playoff berth. A 49-38 win over Kamiak on Jan. 29 assured the Warriors that they will face the North Division’s No. 4 seed.

Edmonds-Woodway (12-2 in the league, 15-3 overall) also is closing in on the Western Conference South Division title. Meadowdale (10-3, 14-3) trails the Warriors with two games left in the regular season.

“It’s real exciting,” Edmonds-Woodway senior guard James Conti said of heading back to the district playoffs. “We just need to focus on these next two games and hopefully get the league championship. We fell short last year to Jackson.

“These next two games are real important. Win these next two and focus on the playoffs.”

The Warriors travel to Shorewood tonight, Feb. 1, and then host Jackson on Feb. 7.

Tuesday night’s victory over Kamiak was Edmonds-Woodway’s fifth straight since a mid-January loss to Meadowdale. The Warriors have been without senior center Connor Donaldson since that game after he reaggravated a knee/MCL injury.

“Hopefully, I’ll be back for the Jackson game (on Feb. 7),” Donaldson said. “I’ve been doing rehab every other day.”

Donaldson suffered a slight dislocation of his right knee cap and also suffered an MCL strain.

In his absence different players have stepped to the forefront.

“We’ve learned that people that haven’t been scoring with us … have been scoring,” Conti said. “They’ve been stepping it up. It’s a different guy every night. We don’t know. Someone can go off for 15, 16 points every night. It’s really a different guy. It makes it tough to guard if you don’t know who’s going to score all the points.”

Sean Laue and Kenan Polovina each scored 14 points against the Hawks, while James Conti had 17 points and Laue added 14 against the Knights.

The Warriors shot 11-for-12 from the line in the fourth quarter to expand on a slim two-point lead over Mountlake Terrace.

Edmonds-Woodway head coach Gail Pintler said the Warriors just kept plugging away against Kamiak and found a way to come out on top.

“When the team (who) wanted to win had to step up, we stepped up,” he said. “They just wouldn’t give up.”

In the end, the Warriors were able to keep Kamiak’s posts in check when they needed to, especially in the second half.

Kamiak’s Skylar Stormo, a 6-foot-4 post, still finished with 15 points, but 6-7 post Jarad Parcell was limited to eight points and eventually fouled out.

“The key was to stop their big men,” Conti said. “Their big men played really well. … We just had to slow them down as much as we could with Donaldson out.

“Oliver (Enquist) and Kenan slowed them down in the second half. That was the difference in the game.”

4A District 1 wrestling tourney

Time: 4 p.m., Friday, Feb. 1; 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

The 411: Postseason wrestling action gets underway at Marysville with wrestlers from the Western Conference North and South Divisions facing off. The top five finishers automatically qualify for the regional tournament at Skyview High School, Feb. 9 (districts one and four). The sixth place wrestler wrestles a pigtail match against a district four wrestler to get into the bracket. Shorewood’s No. 1-ranked Tim Hester is the favorite at 189 pounds and he’ll likely have to face Edmonds-Woodway’s Rudy Johanson, who beat him last year at districts. Shorewood’s Matt Jensen is a favorite to move on to regionals at 152 pounds. Jackson’s Myles Bittinger (171) and Jared Mead (119) are among the Timberwolves’ top prospects.

Lynnwood at Shorecrest boys hoops

Game time: 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Records (through Jan. 29): Shorecrest (4-10 Wesco South, 7-11 overall); Lynnwood (6-8, 8-10).

Last meeting: Lynnwood 56, Shorecrest 52

Players to watch: Forward Mark Golike leads Shorecrest with a 14.7 average, point guard Peter Meyers averages 8.7 points, while Tommy Kanuch and Ryan Dodge shore up the inside game. Lynnwood’s Aaron Matzen leads Lynnwood in scoring with an 11.3 average and Andrew Beatty pours in an average of 10.5 points.

The 411: Both teams are playing well right now, with Shorecrest notching a big win over Meadowdale when it was ranked ninth in the state and Lynnwood beating 4A Jackson, Jan. 25. Playing at home should give Shorecrest a bit of an edge.

Enterprise pick: Shorecrest 61, Lynnwood 57

Meadowdale at Kamiak girls hoops

Game time: 7:30 p.m, Monday, Feb. 4.

Records (through Jan. 29): Meadowdale (10-2 Wesco South, 14-2 overall), Kamiak (9-3 Wesco South, 12-5 overall).

Last meeting: Meadowdale 68, Kamiak 61.

Players to watch: Meadowdale’s Eryn Jones leads the league in scoring with an average of 23.4 points per game. Fellow senior Alli Streit has come on strong of late, scoring 13 and 15 points in victories over Mariner and Shorecrest. Junior Hanna Fjortoft also is a scoring threat. Kamiak is led by Kelsey Patrick, who is averaging 17.9 points per game.

The 411: The Mavericks clawed their way to a 7-point victory in the two teams’ last match-up. Meadowdale’s Eryn Jones lit the Knights up for 33 points. Look for a more balanced approach on offense for the Mavericks, who must be disciplined on the boards. Kamiak has a height advantage, so it will be crucial for Meadowdale to box out. The Mavericks are looking to build momentum as they head to districts and Kamiak should be a good test.

Enterprise pick: Meadowdale 60, Kamiak 50.

Jackson at Kamiak boys hoops

Game time,: 7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 1.

Records (through Jan. 28): Jackson (7-5 Wesco South, 8-5 overall), Kamiak (6-6 Wesco South, 8-8 overall).

Last meeting: Jackson 58, Kamiak 39.

Players to watch: Jackson’s Brett Kingma is averaging 17.1 points per game, while teammate Ryan Todd tallies 10.9 points. Kamiak has a bit more balanced offence with its top three players — Meka Este-McDonald, Skylar Stormo and Justin Glenn — averaging between 8 and 9 points per contest.

The 411: It’s hard to figure out the Timberwolves, which recently beat 4A contender Mariner, but then fell to 3A Lynnwood. Jackson’s inconsistency this season can be traced to its youth and relative inexperience. Jackson won by 19 points the first time this season. Expect a closer game this time. Jackson’s Brett Kingma and Ryan Todd are averaging double figures. The Wolfpack likely will need a third player to hit double figure to win.

Enterprise pick: Jackson 64, Kamiak 58.