Lynnwood boys struggle, then rally to beat Kamiak

Published 12:01 am Friday, December 11, 2009

BOTHELL — Team identities are hard to come by in high school basketball, especially after losing 11 seniors from a 3A state tournament qualifying team just a season ago.

But the Lynnwood boys basketball team made some progress with a 24-point fourth quarter in a 56-45 come-from-behind victory over Kamiak in a Western Conference South Division game Thursday night at Lynnwood High School.

University of San Diego recruit Simi Fajemisin scored a season-high 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the Royals (2-1 league, 2-2 overall) roared back from numerous deficits to grab the win. Fajemisin scored nine of his game-high total in the fourth quarter, including seven points during a 1 minute, 54 second span late in the game.

“This team is still getting a feel for each other,” said Lynnwood head coach Darrell McNeal, whose team is trying to reload with Fajemisin as the lone returning varsity player. “I wanted to keep it close going into the fourth quarter. I felt if we kept it close, it gave us a chance, and we just had to take care of the basketball and I think we did a better job of that in the second half.”

As Fajemisin, a 6-foot-10 senior, clogged up the key, Lynnwood’s 6-foot-3 junior guard Anthony Edwards used slashing drives to get to the free throw line.

Edwards scored a season-high 21 points and dished out eight assists for Lynnwood. The junior scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including shooting nine of 10 from the stripe.

“I think it shows that if we play within ourselves and under control, we have a chance of doing some good things,” McNeal said of the optimism carried with his team’s strong final quarter. “… We’ve got to take every game, every practice week in and week out and get better.”

While Lynnwood took a step in the right direction by overcoming deficits to start every quarter, Kamiak (0-2, 1-3) struggled to close strong for a win.

Senior forward Jared Houghtaling scored a team-high 19 points for Kamiak, including a steal and breakaway layin with 5:09 remaining in the game that put the Knights ahead 39-38, but Kamiak faltered down the stretch.

“They don’t know how to win yet, we just don’t know how to win,” Kamiak head coach Cory West said of his team’s inability to finish the game strong despite leading by eight points in the third quarter and by as many as three points in the fourth. “We blow a lead at the end like that, we’ve just got to learn how to finish off a game.”

The Knights are young, with just three seniors and a boatload of sophomores, but experienced, West said. A number of the younger players have varsity experience from last season when the Knights struggled to a 1-19 record and a winless Wesco South campaign.

“Offensively, we just couldn’t get in a rhythm,” West said of the Knights’ 10-point fourth quarter. “Couldn’t get in a rhythm at all.”

Sophomore Ron Manchester, who averaged 5.1 points per game last season for Kamiak and entered the game as the Knights’ leading scoring this season, was held to nine points and saw his average drop to 12.5 points per game.

Seniors Connor Conrad (six points) and Andrew Makori (four points) were also both held in check.

Kamiak is getting very familiar with Fajemisin’s strength — the center averaged 11.5 points per game against the Knights in two Lynnwood wins last season.

“He always seems to have good games against us,” West said.

At Lynnwood H.S.

Kamiak 14 11 10 10 — 45

Lynnwood 12 10 10 24 — 56

Kamiak—Berg 7, Makori 4, Kussman 0, Lee 0, Self 0, Manchester 9, Blacksmith 0, Houghtaling 19, Conrad 6, Vicente 0, Wisnubroto 0. Lynnwood—Tamirat 0, Kulej 0, Norde 0, Haney 0, Nut 2, Le 6, Shaw 0, Edwards 21, DeGraw 0, Botts 4, Bowman 0, Fajemisin 23. Records—Kamiak 0-2 league, 1-3 overall. Lynnwood 2-1, 2-2.