Arlington wears down Lake Stevens
Published 11:06 pm Tuesday, December 14, 2010
LAKE STEVENS — The Arlington Eagles are still getting used to wearing the “League Favorite” tag, but on Tuesday their performance lived up to the lofty expectations.
Predicted to win the Western Conference 4A North Division in The Herald’s preseason coaches’ poll, the Arlington High School boys basketball team pulled away from the Lake Stevens Vikings in the second half and won 60-46 in the Vikings’ gym. Showing impressive patience on offense and better effort on defense, Arlington outscored Lake Stevens 27-16 after halftime.
Smooth-shooting sophomore guard Terry Dawn came off the bench and scored a game-high 21 points (four 3-pointers) for Arlington.
“This was the best we’ve played. I’m real proud of our guys,” said Arlington coach Nick Brown, whose team improved to 3-0 in North action, 5-1 overall.
“The external pressure is: A lot of people are expecting us to just go out and walk into the gym and get a win,” Brown added, “and it doesn’t work like that in this league.”
In its first two division games this season, Arlington beat Stanwood 49-43 and edged Marysville-Pilchuck by three points in double overtime. The deep, experienced Eagles know every foe is extra-motivated to beat them.
“It’s really nerve-racking,” Arlington senior point guard Zach Cooper (10 points, two 3s) said. “We definitely have to come to play every game. Teams play a lot harder against us, press us more and push us more, and we just need the bench to step up, and they have.”
Tied for first place in the North with Monroe (3-0, 4-0), Arlington’s next game is at home against Snohomish (0-3, 1-5) on Friday.
Arlington’s subs were crucial on Tuesday versus Lake Stevens (1-2, 3-2). Dawn, a 6-foot-2 guard, erupted with 19 first-half points, including four 3s, and sophomore center Dan Boyden scored all four of his points in the fourth quarter. He helped Arlington maintain its double-digit lead over Lake Stevens.
Dawn, called up to the varsity team from the junior-varsity squad late last season, seemed completely comfortable taking — and knocking down — big shots.
“It’s not really all that different,” he said. “I’ve grown up with them and I’ve been playing with them my whole life.”
Despite Dawn’s huge first half, Arlington led by just three points (33-30) at the intermission. The Eagles came out energized in the third quarter and built a 10-point edge midway through the period. Lake Stevens never got closer than eight points after that.
“Our half-time adjustments were: take care of the ball, get good shots and rebound, and (play better) defense,” said Cooper. “We emphasize defense a lot more now because we have (physical guys) who can play hard and we can go deep into our bench.”
Senior guard/forward Eric Carlson (nine points) and senior forward Blake Petersen (eight points) were solid contributors for Arlington, which was 25 of 57 (43.9 percent) from the field, including 12 of 24 in the second half.
On the other hand, Lake Stevens shot poorly at the foul line and from the field, despite getting many open, close-range looks. After shooting well and scoring 23 points in the opening quarter, the Vikings scored just 23 points the rest of the night. In the second half, they finished 5 of 23 (21.7 percent) from the field and 6 of 14 on free throws.
“We need to convert our easy opportunities, whether its free throws or easy buckets,” Lake Stevens coach Mark Hein said. “We struggled to do that (on Tuesday) a little bit.
Sophomore guard Dakota Tomson (17 points), a non-starter, was Lake Stevens’ only player with double-digit points.
Lake Stevens’ offense took a major hit when senior forward Chad Paulson went out with a gruesome left-knee dislocation late in the first quarter. One of the Vikings’ best scorers and a player who was sidelined part of last season because of a right-knee injury, Paulson could be out 4 to 8 weeks, the team’s trainer estimated, according to Hein.
Things don’t get any easier for Lake Stevens. The Vikings’ next game is on Friday at co-North leader Monroe.
At Lake Stevens H.S.
Arlington20131413—60
Lake Stevens23779—0
Arlington — Carlson 9, Cooper 10, Ginnis 2, Brummel 4, Petersen 8, Ladines 2, Dawn 21, Goheen, Cummings, Boyden 4. Lake Stevens — Gellner 7, Dolphin 6, Paulson 3, Gasca 2, Eklund 4, Tomson 17, Dodge 4, Pahukoa, Vandegrift 3, Nelson. 3-point goals — Cooper 2, Dawn 4, Gellner 2, Paulson 1, Tomson 1. Records — Arlington 3-0 in division, 5-1 overall. Lake Stevens 1-2, 3-2.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.
