E-W beats M-P, headed back to state

Published 11:50 pm Saturday, February 16, 2008

MILL CREEK — The Edmonds-Woodway Warriors won a return trip to the Class 4A state tournament, but not without a fight from the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks.

The Warriors outlasted the Tomahawks, earning their second consecutive state tournament berth with a 61-54 victory Saturday night in a 4A District 1 winner-to-state game at Jackson High School.

Edmonds-Woodway (19-3 overall) will play Snohomish at 8 p.m. Saturday for a chance to repeat as 4A District 1 champions.

Marysville-Pilchuck (14-8) will need two more wins to earn its first trip to the state tournament since 1993. The Tomahawks face Mariner at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Jackson High School in a loser-out game.

“It’s amazing,” Edmonds-Woodway head coach Gail Pintler said. “I’ve been coaching for a large number of years and there was only one time I went to state two times in a row (in the ‘80’s). To do it again, it’s awesome and this group deserves it. They really played hard.”

The Warriors and Tomahawks battled through a wild fourth quarter that saw seven lead changes.

Guard James Conti scored six in the final quarter and 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half to lead Edmonds-Woodway.

“James is a winner you can tell that,” Pintler said of the four-year starter. “He’s the one that stepped up, he’s the one that made the plays, he’s the one we went to, and he wanted the ball. Winners want the ball and he played a fantastic game out there.”

Marysville-Pilchuck star Taylor Stevens led all scorers with 26 points but it was his 11 third-quarter points that allowed the Tomahawks to make a run at the Warriors.

“He was really hungry and that really rubs off on our team,” Marysville-Pilchuck coach Bary Gould said.

Edmonds-Woodway opened the game on a 12-2 run. The Warriors led for most of the first three quarters until the Tomahawks full-court press forced four straight Warrior turnovers and allowed Marysville-Pilchuck to go on an 8-3 run and knot the score at 32-32.

That’s when the two teams went to their stars.

Stevens and Conti seemed to match each other shot-for-shot in the third quarter.

After Conti made good on a 3-point play — lay-in and a free throw — giving the Warriors a 40-37 lead, Stevens answered with a jumper of his own, cutting the Warriors lead to one entering the final period.

The Tomahawks opened the fourth sinking four straight free throws to take a 43-42 lead before a Sean Laue tip-in and a Kyle McCartney steal and layup gave the Warriors the lead back at 44-43.

The two teams would trade baskets for the next three minutes with Conti converting a second 3-point play that put the Warriors up 50-47.

Tomahawks guard Joey Kelly sank a 3-pointer to tie the score at 50-50 before a Oliver Enquist layin with 1:55 remaining gave the Warriors a 52-50 advantage and the lead for good.

Marysville-Pilchuck, which was 25-for-34 from the free throw line, missed three of its next four free throws, two coming with 1:26 remaining, after Stevens had to leave the game with a bloody nose.

The senior would return with 53 seconds remaining, but by then the Warriors had taken a 55-51 lead on a 3-point basket by Antoinne Wafer.

In the end, both coaches agreed that the both teams played their hearts out.

“It was a good high school basketball game,” Gould said, “Our guys talked about leaving everything on the court. Well we left some blood, left some sweat … they played their butts off. And credit to Edmonds-Woodway they’re a tough team. They got the early lead on us, we battled back, and then back and forth, they are a really quality basketball team.”

Pintler agreed saying, “We’ve got to feel pretty good. Marysville played their heart out, they took us out of a couple of things. They were ready for us.”

At Jackson H.S.

M-P6151815—54

E-W14101621—61

Marysville-Pilchuck — Forsythe 3, Kelly 4, Lanphere 4, Lovell, Scheller 9, Stevens 26, Thomason 8. Edmonds-Woodway — Conti 17, Donaldson 8, Enquist 7, Laue 11, McCartney 5, Ortiz 4, Polovina 2, Wafer 7. 3-pointers — Kelly 1, Stevens 1, Conti 2, Donaldson 1, Laue 1, Wafer 1. Records — Marysville Pilchuck 14-8 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 19-3.