Snohomish not done yet
Published 11:41 pm Friday, February 13, 2009
EDMONDS — A mainstay at the state tournament in recent seasons, the Snohomish High School boys basketball team wasn’t quite ready to see its four-year run of tourney appearances come to an end Friday night.
And so the Panthers found a way to live another day, thanks in large part to a member of the school’s state champion baseball team.
Senior Brian Wolfe, who did not play basketball as a sophomore or junior because he was concentrating on the baseball diamond, came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points in Tuesday’s 70-52 win over Edmonds-Woodway in a Class 4A District 1 play-in game. The Panthers, who had a tough regular season after losing seven seniors to graduation and returning star Brad Shaw to a June knee injury, will face top seed Lake Stevens in a district opener Tuesday night.
“We’re trying to get the season to last as long as we can,” said Snohomish coach Len Bone, whose team also lost several players to new cross-town high school Glacier Peak. “This was a good step. We hope to get to another (state tournament), and now we’ve got to win two more games to do it.”
Snohomish (12-9) used an early spurt and a patient attack to knock off Edmonds-Woodway behind Wolfe’s 18 points and six assists as well as 17 points from senior Reed Pecha.
The seniors have been Snohomish’s leading scorers all season, yet Wolfe continues to come off the bench because Bone likes the spark he gives as a scorer.
The University of Washington-bound baseball player closed out the first quarter with a 3-pointer, then added eight points in the second quarter as the Panthers pulled away from Edmonds-Woodway (6-15). He hit three 3-pointers and led the team in scoring despite sitting on the bench when the game started.
“The other five seniors deserve (to start) because they stayed in the program,” Wolfe said, shrugging off his role as a reserve.
Wolfe played in the Snohomish basketball program as a freshman but quit before his sophomore season.
“I was thinking about not playing (this year), but it’s my last year, and I knew I would never play basketball again,” he said. “I’ve played with these guys my entire life, from city league to select teams, and I missed playing with them. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for one more go-round.”
The Panthers were certainly glad to have him on Friday.
“I’m a better coach when he’s out there,” Bone cracked.
The Panthers opened Friday’s game with some old-school basketball, patiently holding the ball for 41 seconds before a turnover ended the game’s opening possession. After Edmonds-Woodway scored at the other end, the Panthers’ throwback ways started to pay off. A 12-0 run, by way of eight points from Pecha, put Snohomish in control midway through the first quarter. The Panthers hit four consecutive shots, using a give-and-go and a nifty back-door pass for two easy buckets.
From there, Wolfe helped Snohomish maintain its lead. The senior forward came off the bench to score 13 first-half points as the Panthers pulled out to a 32-22 halftime advantage. E-W senior Jeff Wilson kept the Warriors in the game, scoring 11 of his game-high 19 points before halftime.
“He showed a lot of heart tonight, that’s for sure,” said E-W coach Todd Rubin, whose team saw its season end with the loss.
The Warriors played an inspired third quarter, cutting the lead to five points, but could only watch helplessly as Snohomish’s Wolfe buried another crucial 3 at the end of a quarter — this time, the third — for a 47-36 advantage.
Snohomish went on a 14-4 run in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Edmonds-Woodway’s Kenan Polovina had seven second-half points, but it wasn’t enough. Snohomish used a size advantage at a couple positions to get 16 combined second-half points from 6-foot-2 point guard Blane Ortiz and 6-5 center Jonathan McGee.
“We did a better job of sharing the ball in the second half,” Bone said. “Their pressure really caused problems in the first half.”
Now the Panthers get another shot at Lake Stevens, which has already beaten them twice.
“It’s a big rivalry when Snohomish and Lake Stevens play,” Wolfe said. “We always like to compete against them. We have a ton of respect for them.
“They play hard the entire game. If we get lazy or lackadaisical, they’ll make you pay.”
At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.
Snohomish15171523—70
E-W9131416—52
Snohomish—Ortiz 10, VandenBosch 1, Pecha 17, McGinnis 2, McGee 8, Wolfe 18, Mason 4, M. Scattaregia 2, Caudill 4. Edmonds-Woodway—DeGrazia 4, Wilson 19, Willcock 7, Polovina 9, Haggard 3, Bury 1, Shrestha 2, Jordan 3, Wooley 2. 3-point goals—Wolfe 3, Pecha 2, Wilson 2, Haggard 1, Jordan 1, Willcock 1. Records—Snohomish 12-9 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 6-15.
