Lake Stevens wins by two
Published 11:21 pm Tuesday, February 8, 2011
MUKILTEO — The playoffs are here, which means teams should expect tight, intense and hard-fought battles in every game.
And that’s just what Lake Stevens got on Tuesday night, though the Vikings had enough poise and determination in the late minutes to hold on for a thrilling 74-72 boys basketball victory over Kamiak in a first-round game of the Class 4A District 1 tournament.
“One of our main keys tonight was poise,” said Lake Stevens head coach Mark Hein. “With kind of an inexperienced, younger team, we’ve come a long way in that regard. And even though Kamiak made a late run, I thought our guys showed a lot of composure in the latter stages of the game. So I’m really proud of them for that.”
“One of our keys was poise,” added Vikings forward Brady Pahukoa. “We wanted to stay poised no matter what the score was or the time of the game, and that was the big thing.”
Lake Stevens advances in the winner’s bracket to face Monroe at 6 p.m. Friday at Mill Creek’s Jackson High School. Kamiak drops to the consolation bracket and will host Cascade at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
In Tuesday’s game, Lake Stevens led for all but a few seconds of the fourth quarter, but could never quite put away the pesky Knights. In fact, the Vikings never led by more than four points for the final 4:45 of the game.
The margin was one point with 3.6 seconds to play when Vikings guard Christian Gasca went to the free-throw line for two shots. His first attempt was good, but the second shot came off the rim and Kamiak guard Nicholas Kussman grabbed the long rebound.
Quickly in full stride, Kussman dribbled upcourt and reached the 3-point stripe before releasing a shot that was in the air when the final horn sounded. His try from just right of the key struck the backboard and then the front rim before bouncing away.
“That’s who I wanted to have the ball,” said Kamiak head coach Cory West. “He’s hit a couple of shots like that already this year, so that’s who I want taking that last-second shot. And I thought it was going to go.”
“We’re not blind to the fact they had a great opportunity at the end,” Hein agreed. “We feel relieved.”
For four quarters, this was a spirited, back-and-forth tussle. The biggest lead by either team was an eight-point edge for Lake Stevens midway through the third quarter, 54-46, which capped an 11-2 scoring burst. The Vikings had a seven-point spread in the second quarter, while Kamiak led by seven in the game’s early minutes.
Kussman, who finished with 25 points to lead all scorers, scored with a runner from the key with 3:22 to play, putting Kamiak on top 66-65, its last lead of the game. From there Lake Stevens eased back in front, and the score was 73-69 with 24 seconds remaining on a free throw by Vikings guard Seth Dodge.
Needing a huge basket, the Knights got it when post Imaan Vicente, a freshman, swished a 3-point shot from the top of the key with four seconds on the clock.
Kamiak immediately called timeout, and then fouled Gasca on the inbounds play, setting up the frantic final seconds.
“We gave up a little more defensively than I would hope to,” Hein said. “But as a group I was really proud of how calm we played tonight offensively. I was really proud of that.
“I feel like we haven’t played our best game yet on both sides of the basketball,” he said. We’re still in search of that, but we are getting better. And it’s the perfect time because it’s the end of the year.”
Though disappointed by the outcome, West expects his team “will bounce back fine because they’re a tight-knit group. Our goal is still the same. We just have to take a longer path to get there.”
At Kamiak H.S.
Lake Stevens 15 26 17 16 — 74
Kamiak 18 21 15 18 — 72
Lake Stevens—Smith 5, Nelson 0, Stoen 0, Tomson 14, Gasca 11, Dodge 18, Paulson 3, Pahukoa 12, Vandegrift 5, Eklund 6. Kamiak—Wisnubroto 8, Berg 6, Kussman 25, Self 8, Manchester 6, Vicente 18, Parker 1. 3-point goals—Smith 1, Tomson 2, Dodge 1, Paulson 1, Wisnubroto 1, Kussman 3, Vicente 2. Records—Lake Stevens is 12-9. Kamiak is 12-9.
