Glacier Peak boys top Kamiak, clinch share of Wesco 4A title

Published 10:30 pm Tuesday, January 31, 2017

SNOHOMISH — Kamiak star Carson Tuttle continued his red-hot play with a dazzling opening stretch that sunk Glacier Peak into an early hole.

But the Grizzlies had quite the response.

Bobby Martin sparked a 25-6 first-half run and was one of four Glacier Peak scorers to finish in double figures as the eighth-ranked Grizzlies clinched at least a share of the Wesco 4A title with a pivotal 62-48 conference win over visiting Kamiak on Tuesday night.

The victory secures Glacier Peak (16-2, 11-1 Wesco 4A) the conference’s top seed for the upcoming Class 4A District 1 tournament. The Grizzlies, who completed a season sweep of Kamiak with the win, now hold a two-game lead over the second-place Knights with two league games left to play.

“It’s a big accomplishment to have as a team,” Martin said of the conference title. “And I think because we play as a team, it’s even more enjoyable. We’re not just one or two people. I think our whole team — (all) five people on the court — contributed to a big win tonight.”

Martin scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter, including three of his four 3-pointers. Justin Purcell added 15 points, Seiver Southard hit three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points, and Evan Mannes chipped in 12 points for the well-balanced Grizzlies.

“We try to spread it around,” Glacier Peak coach Brian Hunter said. “We’ve had six different leading scorers this year in games, and I think that kind of epitomizes our team, to be honest with you. We have really, really good teammates and I think if you have good basketball players that are great teammates, you have really good basketball teams. And that’s what we have this year.”

Glacier Peak compiled yet another stellar defensive performance, allowing less than 50 points for the 11th time this season and holding the Knights nearly 18 points below their season average. The 48 points matched a season low for Kamiak (14-5, 9-3).

“We care about defense here,” said Hunter, whose team has yielded more than 58 points just once all season. “I know our players have a goal of being one of the better defensive teams this school has had, and we’ve had great defensive teams. We don’t try to outscore people — we try to limit teams to tough shots, limit the number of shots they get and then take great shots. And I think those things all help to play great defense.”

“We love defense,” Martin added. “If you play defense first, the offense will come.”

Kamiak entered Tuesday’s showdown on a seven-game winning streak, with its last loss coming to Glacier Peak on Jan. 6. Tuttle was averaging 28 points per game over that stretch, and the Kamiak junior guard carried that momentum into the game’s opening minutes by scoring seven quick points to lift the Knights to an early 10-3 lead.

But Martin responded with a scoring flurry of his own, pouring in 11 points over the game’s first six minutes as Glacier Peak closed the opening period with 13 straight points to build an 18-12 lead.

Then after Kamiak began the second quarter with a pair of baskets to make it a two-point game, the Grizzlies rattled off a 12-2 scoring spree and took a 36-26 lead into halftime.

“(Kamiak) came out on fire,” Hunter said. “They were up 10-3 and it could’ve been a really long night for us. … But our guys buckled down a little bit and they kind of did what we do. Games are long, and sometimes those early leads are just emotion. Then all of a sudden you kind of settle in, and then you just grind.”

Kamiak trimmed the deficit to single digits early in the third quarter, but Glacier Peak quickly answered with a transition lay-in and a three-point play to stretch its lead to 48-35. The Grizzlies led by as many as 18 points early in the fourth quarter.

“We just have kids that play together,” Hunter said. “To me, our kids share the ball as well as you could share it. They very rarely shoot poor shots, and that’s because (the) kids know that if they make one more pass, that next shot’s going to be a little bit better. We do have kids that can shoot the ball, which is nice. But we have really unselfish players, which goes a long way.”

Tuttle hit four 3-pointers for Kamiak and finished with a game-high 23 points, reaching the 20-point mark for the 13th time this season. But Glacier Peak kept the rest of the Knights’ scorers in single digits.

“They’re just a good team,” Kamiak coach Cory West said. “They play well as a team, they move the ball well and they just cause mismatch problems.”