Sophomore lifts Marysville Pilchuck over Arlington in 2 OTs

Published 10:30 pm Wednesday, January 25, 2017

MARYSVILLE — Arlington held RaeQuan Battle scoreless in the first half and to just three points through the first three quarters.

But there was no slowing down the Marysville Pilchuck sophomore sensation after that.

Battle scored 23 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime periods to lead the youth-laden Tomahawks to a 66-58 double-overtime win over visiting Arlington in a Wesco 3A thriller Wednesday night.

“In the first half, I was thinking a lot,” Battle said. “So I just cleared my mind, kept myself in the four corners of the court and just focused on putting the ball in the rim.”

Battle, a 6-foot-4 guard who’s averaging 21.5 points per game, scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and 11 combined in the two overtime periods. He finished with at least 26 points for the eighth time this season and the sixth time in the last eight games.

“He’s our guy, even though he’s a 10th-grader,” Pilchuck coach Bary Gould said. “He’s a spectacular talent. … He stayed the course and stuck to it. He’s as clutch as you could possibly (be).”

With the Tomahawks trailing 56-52 with 47.8 seconds to play in the first overtime, Battle hit the first of two free throws to make it a one-possession game. Then after Arlington rebounded Battle’s missed second free throw, Pilchuck junior guard Josiah Gould came up with a pivotal backcourt steal.

The Tomahawks (9-7 overall, 4-4 Wesco 3A) called timeout and drew up a play for Battle, and the star sophomore came through by drilling a game-tying 3-pointer with 37 seconds to play. Pilchuck’s defense followed with a stop to force double overtime.

Battle then opened the second overtime with a 3-pointer and added a basket and pair of free throws as Pilchuck outscored Arlington 10-2 in the period to pull away for the win.

“It’s what I’ve always been thinking of,” Battle said of the thrilling victory. “I love clutch games and I love very close games, but I also like coming out with a win. (It was) just trusting my teammates and trusting my coaches with the new set plays we ran.”

Pilchuck’s defense shined throughout the game, limiting the Drew Bryson-led Eagles to just 58 points in the 40-minute contest. The Tomahawks held Arlington (9-7, 6-2) without a field goal in the second overtime and limited the Eagles to just six points combined in the two overtime periods.

Bryson, a standout senior guard who’s averaging 22.4 points per game, hit five 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 24 points for Arlington. Several of his 3s came from well beyond the arc.

“He got free a few times and he’s going to hit those long-range 3s,” Bary Gould said. “But even though he got his points, I feel like he had to work for pretty much all of them. And that’s a tribute to these guys talking, bumping, switching and realizing where he is.”

Josiah Gould scored 14 points and freshman guard Luke Dobler added 12 points on four 3-pointers for the Tomahawks. Pilchuck got 48 of its 66 points from underclassmen and played the fourth quarter and overtime periods with three freshmen on the floor.

“To have young players getting that valuable experience, you can’t recreate that stuff in practice,” Bary Gould said. “We have all these things that we can learn from, and we walk away with a win. It’s like having your cake and eating it, too.”

Arlington sophomore Griffin Gardoski had 14 points and sophomore point guard Anthony Whitis added 12 for the Eagles, who fell into a fourth-place tie with Mountlake Terrace in the Wesco 3A standings. Pilchuck moved into a tie with Meadowdale for sixth place.

The Tomahawks held Arlington scoreless for the first four minutes of the second quarter while scoring 13 consecutive points to build an 18-11 lead. But Arlington returned the favor, keeping Pilchuck off the scoreboard for the final four minutes of the period while closing the half with 11 straight points to take a 22-18 lead into the break.

Later, the two teams traded blows during a dramatic fourth quarter that featured eight lead changes in the final three minutes.

After Bryson swished a 3-pointer to give Arlington a 51-49 lead in the final minute of regulation, Battle answered with a three-point play to give Pilchuck a one-point edge with 29 seconds remaining. Whitis then made a game-tying free throw with 19.6 seconds left that ultimately forced overtime.