Glacier Peak boys hoops team tops Arlington

Published 9:36 pm Thursday, December 27, 2012

SNOHOMISH — Glacier Peak’s boys basketball team has its share of offensive weapons, but on Tuesday night, it was the Grizzlies defense that helped them to a 61-50 nonleague victory over Arlington.

The Eagles closed Glacier Peak’s lead to 52-50 in the game’s final minutes, but the Grizzlies were able to come up with several steals and turned them into points as they closed the game on a 9-0 run.

Grizzlies coach Brian Hunter said Glacier Peak’s defense didn’t just come up big late, it had been strong all game.

“I think it played a big role up to that point,” Hunter said. “We played some of our best defense up until the middle of the third quarter. That set the tone I think. Our best offense is out of our defense.”

The latter part of the third quarter, as Hunter alluded to, wasn’t as pretty for the Grizzlies defense. The Eagles erased a 10-point deficit, turning a 35-25 Grizzlies’ lead into a 35-35 tie entering the games’ final stanza.

The Eagles continued their run early in the fourth quarter as they took their first lead since the early minutes in the game. But the Grizzlies recovered to pull away down the stretch.

“Well, I think a little bit of it is experience,” Arlington coach Nick Brown said. “We are young. We have one returning starter. And tonight was the first night where I felt we were all kind of on the same page. We are figuring each other out right now. And I think this group is going to be pretty good. They work hard and they try hard, but they are just young.”

The Grizzlies were helped by senior Austin Tarvin, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half including nine in the final period.

But it was Zach Pederson who controlled the game offensively with his performance inside. Pederson finished the game with 23 points, and as usual, started the game off strong.

“He’s a confident player,” Hunter said. “He really understands his body. He just has a really good feel around the hoop. I think he understand his game, his strengths. If you notice, he doesn’t do a lot of things that he’s not maybe as comfortable with.”

Brown said guarding Pederson is a challenge.

“We’ve watched film on him and we know him,” Brown said. “But he came out and hit, I think 10 straight. He really just kind of finds a way to get the ball. And you know the way he shoots it, everything you teach fundamentally, we were where we need to be, we were there.”

Terry Dawn led Arlington with 23 points, 15 of which came in the second half as the Eagles made their run.

“It’s hard because he is so fun to watch that I think a lot of us just kind of sit back and let him do it,” Brown said. “And he is a special kid. But we have really been trying to preach, ‘let it come to you.’ Let him go when it is time and don’t try to let him do too much and I think he did a great job of that tonight. I thought he deferred and then when it was time he took the ball to the rim. He is just so smooth.”

Of course as a nonleague game, this game doesn’t have any bearing on the postseason, but both teams were able to take something from the game.

For the Grizzlies, Hunter was happy to see the offensive balance that his team showed.

“It’s huge,” Hunter said. “If we are going to be able to do some things and if we are going to be able to get to some of the games that we want to get to and get some wins. Yeah, it’s not a one man deal. But that’s what this is about. It’s about guys understanding what they need to do to make the team successful.

Brown said he felt like his team is starting to figure out how to close games late and is proud of the effort that it put forth.

“I never like losing, but I feel really proud of my team and my kids and my program,” Brown said.

Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Read his live blogs at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/prepzone, follow him on twitter @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.

At Glacier Peak H.S.

Arlington 9 10 16 15 — 50

Glacier Peak 13 13 9 26 — 61

Arlington-Bryson 8, Smoke 0, Dawn 23, Goheen 3, Smith 0, Passalacqua 0, Davis 5, Brummel 4, Boyden 7. Glacier Peak-Tarvin 11, Vader 0, Kiser 13, Chambers 0, Pederson 23, Pohrman 6, Davelaar 8. 3-point goals-Davis 1, Bryson 2, Goheen 1, Dawn 3, Tarvin 1, Pohrman 1. Records-Arlington 4-4, Glacier Peak 6-4.