Everett girls basketball team rules crosstown rivalry

Published 11:31 pm Friday, December 2, 2011

EVERETT — The Everett Seagulls’ 62-19 victory in the girls portion of Friday night’s Bru-Gull Fest at Cascade High School was not as lopsided as the Seagulls’ 67-point win in their opener, but it was far more significant.

Not only was this a victory over a Class 4A team, it was over their crosstown rival — always a satisfying win.

“It’s a big game,” senior captain Jody Barhanovich said. “It’s important. We wanted to just make a point.”

The Seagulls (2-0) made a point with their defense, holding Cascade (1-1) to just four field goals — only one in the second half. The Bruins didn’t shoot especially poorly, they just couldn’t get shots off under the duress of the Everett pressure.

Everett coach John Low said he wants his team to get better each game and that even after the blowout win against Sedro-Woolley there was room for improvement.

“We talked about how they (Sedro) had open shots and they would just miss them,” Low said. “Yeah, whatever the score was, it was, but we were still giving up open looks.”

Not so against Cascade. Everett had 17 steals, led by Kiki Harper’s four, and five blocks, two by Amber Hagar. Everett out-rebounded Cascade 31-13, with all 10 Seagulls contributing. At times it seemed like Cascade was not allowed to possess the ball inside the 3-point stripe.

“Our team is very fast and lengthy and we can get there fast,” Barhanovich said. “We can move with flow and we can get a lot of blocks. We are just quick.”

What’s most striking about the Seagulls is that they are not among the favorites heading into Wesco 3A play — not even close. The league’s coaches tabbed Everett as the No. 5 team behind Glacier Peak, Shorecrest, Lynnwood and Meadowdale.

Low is happy to have his team hovering under the radar.

“Let everyone worry about the teams that have been there in the past, and rightly so,” the Seagulls coach said. “Those teams, the Meadowdales, Glacier Peak and the Shorecrests and Lynnwoods, have all been to state recently and we haven’t. I don’t want us to get overconfident when we haven’t reached that mark yet.”

Cascade coach Ed Bowers left the court impressed with the Seagulls.

“They are a heck of an athletic team,” Bowers said. “They are going to be one of the top clubs in 3A, there’s no doubt. They have some good ballplayers and a good scheme.”

Cascade scored nine of its 19 points at the free-throw line. Senior Haley Goff led the Bruins with a 3-pointer and three free throws.

Everett’s offense was balanced, with seven players scoring at least two field goals. Calea Carr led the Seagulls with 15 points off the bench. Carr scored 13 first-half points.

“It’s not bad coming off the bench,” she said. “You get to see everyone out there, what the team is doing, how we are playing and what you can do to improve. It’s not bad.”

Sidney Rielly led the Seagulls in scoring a year ago and drew most of the Bruins’ focus on defense Friday night, but still chipped in 13 points.

Low subbed heavily beginning in the third quarter, but the problem for the Bruins — and future Everett opponents — is Everett is so deep, especially defensively, despite just two seniors on the roster.

“We actually probably get better defensively when we bring a couple other kids in from the starting group,” Low said. “We can get a little bit quicker and we can be pretty athletic when we want to go small and fast.”

The Seagulls led by 40 points early in the fourth quarter and forced a running clock for the remainder of the game.

The Bruins have a lot to work on before the Wesco 4A season begins next week.

“The good news is that it’s not a league game,” Bowers said. “There a lot of things to take from it that we will work on this week to get us ready. We are going to be pressed just like this against Kamiak (on Wednesday) and we’ve got to be ready for those situations.”

At Cascade H.S.

Everett1419236—62

Cascade6760—19

Everett—Harper 4, Davis 5, Carr 15, D. Rielly 8, S. Rielly 13, Barhanovich 2, Rogge 0, Sittauer 0, Hagar 7, Smith 8. Cascade—Goff 6, Weir 1, Hood 4, DiPietro 0, Mallos 1, Stewart 2, VonPressentin 2, Perea 0, Watson 0, Joyce 3, Salter 0. 3-point goals—D. Rielly, S. Rielly, Goff, Joyce. Records—Everett 2-0, Cascade 1-1.