Lynnwood girls crush Arlington 60-22 in matchup of unbeatens

Published 8:35 pm Saturday, February 20, 2016

MILL CREEK — No one saw that coming.

In a battle of two unbeatens, Lynnwood — the No. 1 3A team in the latest Associated Press poll — played its best game of the season to date. Going up against No. 3 Arlington, the Royals held the Eagles scoreless for over 15 minutes, scoring 30 straight points in a decisive 60-22 victory over Arlington in the 3A District 1 championship game Saturday night at Jackson High School.

“We want to play well at this time of year,” Lynnwood head coach Everett Edwards said. “This is a time of year that a lot of teams’ seasons have ended and we’re excited to continue to play and hopefully represent our Wesco league.

“It is (our best game of the season), considering the quality of the opponent. We’ve had some pretty good games this season, but considering all the respect we have for Arlington, there’s no way I thought we would win by (almost) 40 points.”

Both teams advance to the regional round of the state tournament and will find out their draws either late Saturday night or Sunday.

That was about the only positive for Arlington, which shot 0-for-18 in a scoreless second quarter.

“Wow. Wow,” Arlington head coach Joe Marsh said. “Listen, best team in the state, best player in the state, one of the best coaches in the state. Everything speaks for itself. We’ve never had an 0-for-quarter. I think we had an 0-for-quarter-and-a-half where we just could not put the ball in the basket. They are everything as advertised and more. Obviously, there’s no doubt about it. They’re just a phenomenal team. It was certainly not our night tonight. We couldn’t buy a bucket.”

The Eagles kept pace with Lynnwood in the first quarter, trailing 14-10 at the end of the period.

Then the Royals took over.

Lynnwood scored 30 consecutive points and led by as much as 44 in the game. A Washington Interscholastic Activities Association rule mandates a running clock if a team leads by 40 or more — a mark Lynnwood met late in the contest.

“They turned it up” Marsh said. “We came out and had a great start to the game, which we didn’t do the other night, so I was really happy with the intensity at the beginning of the game. We put the ball in the basket a few times but if you don’t do that against a team like Lynnwood you’re going to be in trouble.”

Lynnwood’s Jordyn Edwards led all scorers with 21 points and four steals. Fellow senior Mikayla Pivec had 10 points, 18 rebounds — including four on one play — and five assists and post Kelsey Rogers added 10 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for Lynnwood (23-0), which utilized its size inside.

“Arlington’s a very scrappy team and they’re a unique team to have to play for because they are so fast and they pressure so much,” Edwards said. “On the offensive end, we really executed the game plan. We knew we had an advantage inside and wanted to get the ball inside and I think we did that.”

Said Marsh: “We knew coming in rebounding was going to be an issue. Mikayla Pivec is a phenomenal rebounder, Rogers can rebound, they rebound as a team. And when they rebound they get it and go.”

Pivec had to sit for a lot of the first quarter after picking up two early fouls. In her absence, Jordyn Edwards and Rogers picked up the slack to help the Royals begin to pull away.

“(Jordyn) was ready to play tonight,” Everett Edwards said. “I think with Mik being in foul trouble she felt like she had to step up a little bit and play a little bit harder. She had a great game from start to finish, all the way through. (And) Kelsey just played wonderfully tonight. We really wanted her to play big and look to get some blocks and kind of own the middle of the paint. … When she plays well we’re a very tough team to deal with.”

Jayla Russ led Arlington (22-1) with eight points, including a four-point play with 1:58 remaining in the third quarter to break the scoreless streak.

It was the first loss of the season for the Eagles, who are headed to regionals for the fourth consecutive season.

“We’re going to the regional and we have time to prepare,” Marsh said. “And by the way, I can pretty much guarantee we’re not going to see a better team than that in the next game. The takeaway is when (you see) a team is that good, that athletic and that everything — we’re going to have to step up our game. … Whatever they were saving they brought it tonight and we just had no answer for them.

“We’ll just go back and lick our wounds and prepare for the next team.”

At Jackson H.S.

Arlington 10 0 4 8 —22

Lynnwood 14 20 14 12 —60

Arlington—Gracie Castaneda 2, Serafina Balderas 0, Sarah Shortt 0, Sevi Bielser 2, Peyton Brown 3, Selena Gutierrez 0, Olivia Larson 2, Emma Janousek 1, Abby Anderson 2, Jayla Russ 8, Tahlia Miears 2, Kelsey Mellick 0. Lynnwood—Abi Yemane 1, Reilly Walsh 4, Rachel Walsh 0, Jordyn Edwards 21, Mikayla Pivec 10, Kelsey Rogers 10, Valerie Bell 0, Kaprice Boston 12, Taylor Fahey 2, Abby Douglas 0, Kaui Piilani 0, Kia Crawford 0. Records—Arlington 22-1 overall. Lynnwood 23-0.