Stanwood captures must-win vs. Arlington

Published 11:18 pm Tuesday, December 16, 2008

ARLINGTON — An early season must-win.

That’s how Stanwood head coach Zach Ward described the Wesco North game between his Spartans and the Arlington Eagles Tuesday night.

And win his Spartans did.

Using a 12-2 third-quarter run, the Stanwood Spartans (2-1 in league, 3-2 overall) took control of the contest outlasting the Eagles 68-59 in a game played at Arlington High School.

Behind tough defense and a hot-hand by senior forward Kale Schmidt, the Spartans won the quarter 18-10 and leaped out to an 18-point, 44-26 lead.

Schmidt scored six of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter and the Spartans used a mixture of zone defenses in causing the Eagles (0-2, 2-2) problems on offense.

“We made a little tweak at halftime and the kids responded well. We took advantage of our length and we were able to spread out,” Ward said of the third quarter defense.

“It caused us problems,” Arlington head coach Nick Brown said.

Arlington managed just two field goals in the quarter, both on two precise passes by Eagles’ guard Cole Carpenter.

Carpenter finished with a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists.

Knowing it needed to make a change in the fourth, Arlington came out with a full-court press, trimming Stanwood’s lead to nine points on a Lucas Larson 3-pointer with 4:53 remaining in the contest.

It was the first time since two minutes into the third that Arlington trailed by fewer than 10 points.

Larson and teammate Tyler Busby combined to score 23 of Arlington’s 29 fourth-quarter points.

Larson, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth, poked a ball loose two plays later, picking up the steal and making an easy lay-in that cut Stanwood’s lead to six at 52-46.

Busby scored 11 of his 13 in the fourth quarter.

“Lucas is patient. He knocked down some big shots,” Brown said of his three-year varsity member.

The six points would be as close as Arlington would get as Stanwood dropped in 14 of its 16 free throw attempts and a Jordon Solvberg field goal in the final four minutes to stave off the Eagles.

“It was good to pick up this win, coming off the back end of a tough two-game stretch,” Ward said.

Stanwood, picked by the coaches’ in the preseason to win the North division, was coming off a tough 58-55 loss to Lake Stevens on Friday.

“The kids responded well. They were excited to come out and play tonight,” Ward added.

Not quite yet at full strength, the Spartans rested standout forward Zack Johnson for the second quarter. Johnson, coming off a knee procedure six weeks ago, scored eight points and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the free-throw line down the stretch.

Schmidt all but made up the missing offense in the second quarter scoring nine in the quarter.

Solvberg added 12 points and Kaleb Orcutt had 10 for Stanwood.

At Arlington H.S.

Stanwood12151123—68

Arlington8121029—59

Stanwood—Asher 3, Wark, Haugstad, Schmidts 24, Orcutt 10, Johnson 8, Solvberg 12, Chabot 9, Hushagen 2. Arlington—Carlson 6, Cooper 3, Richardson 2, Heath 7, Larson 17, Petit 0, Busby 13, Carpenter 11. 3-pointers—Schmidt 3, Larson 2. Records—Stanwood 2-1 in league, 3-2 overall. Arlington 0-2, 2-2.