Snohomish realizes title dream

Published 11:26 pm Saturday, February 23, 2008

MILL CREEK — Polls can be correct.

The Snohomish Panthers, ranked No. 6 in this season’s final Associated Press poll, fought through 11 lead changes and emerged with a 60-54 victory over the No. 9-ranked Edmonds-Woodway Warriors to claim the Class 4A District 1 boys basketball title Saturday night at Jackson High School.

With the triumph, Snohomish (20-3) earned the district’s No. 1 seed to the 4A state championship tournament which starts Wednesday at the Tacoma Dome.

Of course, the good news for Edmonds-Woodway is the Warriors (19-4) also advance to the tournament along with Mariner (18-6).

After watching each of the Panthers’ players take a turn snipping off a piece of net, no less than an authority than Jon Brockman, a senior standout at the UW and a Snohomish alum, joined the team in the locker room and suggested they savor the moment.

“I’ve still got my piece of net hanging up in my room with the pair of shoes I wore in the game,” Brockman said later, recalling a district title won when he was a sophomore at Snohomish.

“It’s just a day these guys will never forget,” Brockman continued. “It’s an exciting special moment … it’s the only time I’ve ever been up on a ladder cutting down a net.”

Snohomish trailed 30-27 midway through the third quarter, but inched closer on a leaner in the lane by senior wing Zache Wilde (13 points, eight rebounds, six assists).

A follow-on 3-pointer by Clayton Johnson, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, resulted in the 11th and final lead change and a 33-32 Snohomish advantage.

A driving lay-in by Brad Shaw, who led Snohomish with 17 points and a bucket by Wilde on a spin move in the lane propelled the Panthers to a 41-36 lead by the end of the third quarter and they did not relinquish the advantage down the stretch.

“We got the little bump at a nice time and were able to hang onto it,” Snohomish coach Len Bone said. “If (E-W) had got the bump they probably would have held on to it.”

“It’s an awesome feeling,” said Wilde who, with help from Jon McGee, Ryan Leahy and Nick Klop, led the Panthers second-half domination on the boards. “I’ve gotten every other place (at district) the last three years and this is a great way to top it off.”

“Our number one key was to keep them off of the offensive boards,” E-W coach Gail Pintler said. “That was a number one key. I asked the team if we met that goal and to a man they said obviously not.”

“Monday and Tuesday practices have got to be a different level,” Pintler added.

Snohomish led by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, but E-W stayed within reach behind post Connor Donaldson, who scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the second half.

James Conti added 16 points and Max Ortiz 11 for the Warriors, who have won 17 of 19 games since a 2-2 start to their season.

Johnson (six rebounds) and Klop (seven points, four rebounds) each knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds to keep E-W at bay.

“It was nip and tuck the whole way,” said Shaw, a junior guard. “Honestly, we didn’t feel we had it until there were about five seconds left. Those (E-W) guys just keep fighting … James (Conti) he’s a warrior … all credit to them.”

Winning the district title hadn’t yet fully settled in for Shaw.

“It’s almost surreal … this is awesome,” Shaw said, “… this was our dream … but to have it come true is an awesome feeling.”

“Enjoy that piece of net,” Bone added. “Now it starts all over. Two days of practice and then everybody is excited about Wednesday.”

There were five lead changes in the first half, but neither team was able to gain separation. E-W led by four points on two occasions in the opening quarter.

Snohomish took its biggest lead, 19-15, on Johnson’s put-back of a missed free throw with 3:31 remaining in the first half.

Ortiz threw an alley-oop to Sean Laue at the rim to jump-start a 6-1 Warriors run that included two steals — and four points — by Conti.

Conti, a lightning quick 5-foot-11 senior, bedeviled Snohomish with five steals and three rebounds in the first 16 minutes.

Wilde scored all of his first half points on 5-for-6 free-throw shooting, including a pair in the waning seconds that provided the Panthers with a narrow 22-21 advantage at the break.

At Jackson H.S.

E-W 10111518—54

Snohomish10121919—60

Edmonds-Woodway — Ortiz 11, Conti 16, Laue 6, Donaldson 19, Enquist 2, Wilson, McCartney, Wafer, Reilly, Heard, Polovina, Wilcock. Snohomish — Shaw 17, Low 5, Johnson 14, Klop 7, Wilde 13, McGee 4 Leahy, McGinnis, Pecha, Jeffries. 3-point goals — Donaldson 2, Shaw 3, Johnson 1. Records — E-W 19-4, Snohomish 20-3.