Tulalip Heritage boys basketball holds off Liberty Christian

Published 12:02 am Sunday, March 1, 2026

MOUNT VERNON — All Yari Archibald could do was sit and watch.

After leading Tulalip Heritage boys basketball with 10 points in the first half of its second round matchup against Liberty Christian in the 1B State Tournament at Mount Vernon High School on Saturday, the sophomore wing picked up his fourth personal foul early in the third quarter.

Tulalip Heritage built up a 40-21 lead by halftime, but with Archibald on the bench, Liberty Christian went on a run to get within eight points with three minutes left in the third. Even with his team’s grip on the game slipping, Archibald felt unfazed as he patiently waited for his return to the court.

“I was just waiting, relying on my team,” Archibald said. “I know they could play basketball, get buckets for us, and just wait until I got back on the court and do my thing.”

Sure enough, teammates such as JJ Gray, Davien Parks, Davis Bachand and Ziggy Myles-Gilford put together big plays in the final minutes of the third to bring the lead back up to 14. Once Archibald returned in the fourth quarter, he did his thing, scoring eight straight Tulalip Heritage points to keep his team ahead when Liberty Christian made a final push.

In the end, the No. 3 seed Hawks (21-6) secured a 70-63 victory against the No. 6 seed Patriots (22-3) to bypass the Round of 12 and earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

Archibald led with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Myles-Gilford had 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Tulalip Heritage. Ryker Wageman scored a game-high 22 points for Liberty Christian in the loss.

In the week of practice since they fell 59-44 to Lummi Nation in the Tri-District Tournament Championship — their fourth loss to the Blackhawks this season — the Hawks put an emphasis on cleaning things up on the offensive end while continuing their strength on defense. As a team, they totaled as many steals (10) and blocks (5) combined as they did turnovers (15).

“We want to be able to execute at a high level,” Tulalip Heritage coach Shawn Sanchey said. “Be able to close out games, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Coming off the bench in the first quarter, Bachand hit a pair of 3-pointers to get the Hawks ahead 14-9 after one, but Tulalip Heritage did not truly get going until midway through the second quarter, where they turned a 19-16 lead into a 19-point lead at half with a 21-5 run.

Archibald opened the run with a driving layup and closed it with a steal-and-score under the Patriots’ net followed by a 3-pointer with three seconds left to make it 40-21 entering the break. Archibald dished out a couple of assists in between, highlighting the overall team effort of finding the open man and creating shot opportunities with quick passing sequences.

“We were just moving the ball, finding the right openings,” Archibald said. “(Knowing) when to shoot the ball, when to pass, screens. Just all we’ve been working on in practice.”

Carrying a big lead into the third quarter, Tulalip Heritage got comfortable, but Liberty Christian did not back down. The Patriots consistently found ways to get shots under the basket and capitalized on offensive rebounds to create second-chance points, while also generating steals as part of the effort to bring the game back within single-digits.

“We kind of let the score impact us,” Myles-Gilford said. “But we had to realize that we needed to get back, not care about the score, and that’s what we did.”

Myles-Gilford converted on an ‘And-1’ with 1:36 left in the third to make it 50-37, and even after the Patriots opened the fourth on a 6-0 run to cut it to 52-44, Archibald knocked down 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, going shot for shot with Liberty Christian’s Wageman before sinking two free throws to bump the lead up to 11.

In a final push, the Patriots cut the deficit to six with 45 seconds left, but Tulalip Heritage put the last nail in the coffin with style. Archibald tipped an attempted Liberty Christian pass into Gray’s hands, and the junior immediately sent an outlet pass to Myles-Gilford in open space, where he elevated for a reverse dunk to make it 68-59 with about 25 seconds left.

“The fans, really, they just excite me,” Myles-Gilford said. “So every time I dunk, it gets the fans excited, it gets me excited. It gets the whole team going.”

After placing fourth in the state tournament last season, the Hawks are hoping to build on that experience and get even further this time. Sanchey is already seeing signs of progress between this year and last.

“That experience was great for them,” Sanchey said. “You get to understand big games, the big moments, and how detrimental it could be on the decisions you make on the floor. And now that’s transitioning. It’s starting to show they have a lot of growth, and we’re growing as a team, as a program, and these guys are showing their best efforts out there.”