Royals hang on to beat Grizzlies
Published 10:55 pm Wednesday, December 22, 2010
BOTHELL — Building an 18-point lead early in the second half seemed almost easy at times for the Lynnwood girls basketball team on Wednesday night.
Holding onto that lead against a determined squad from Glacier Peak was a struggle to the final horn.
Shrugging off the large deficit, the visiting Grizzlies used a spirited rally to come within a whisker of catching Lynnwood in the late seconds. But the Royals had just enough poise and just enough margin to hang on for a 74-68 victory, their seventh in eight games this season.
Lynnwood saw its 18-point lead dwindle to three points in the closing moments, “and that’s something we’re going to have to learn to deal with,” said head coach Everett Edwards. “We’re still a very young team (the Royals start two juniors, a sophomore and two freshmen), and we have to learn to deal with the pressure.
“But at the end of the game we still made plays to win,” he said. “So I will take that and be very happy.”
Wings Mokun Fajemisin and Arsenia Ivanov led Lynnwood with 21 points apiece, with Ivanov scoring 18 of those points from the 3-point line. Glacier Peak had a one-two tandem, too, with guard Katie Hawkins leading all scorers with 26 points and guard Becca Smith chipping in 23.
The teams traded leads through the first quarter, but in the second period the Royals surged in front. Glacier Peak led 16-15 early in the quarter after a three-point play by guard Olivia VanDlac, but from there the Royals ran off 15 straight points over the next five minutes.
Wing Meghan Cross had six points in the burst and Ivanov added five, and Lynnwood ended up taking a 34-20 edge to the halftime locker room.
In the second quarter, “we were playing hard, we were playing good defense … and we had a very good run,” Edwards said.
The margin grew to 41-23 early in the third quarter and it looked like the rout might be on. But the Grizzlies refused to fold, and they went on to score 23 points in the final five minutes of the period to draw within 54-46.
And they weren’t done yet. Glacier Peak came within five points early in the fourth quarter, saw the lead go back to 10, and then battled back again. Trailing 68-58 with just under three minutes to play, the Grizzlies went on a 10-3 scoring surge to pull within three.
But they would come no closer, as Lynnwood scored with a free throw and a fastbreak layin in the final seconds.
“I was very proud of the team,” said Grizzlies volunteer assistant coach John Rasmussen, who filled in for head coach Brian Hill, who was ill. “They never quit. We could’ve rolled over in the third quarter … but they stepped up.
“Sixty-eight points, you’re going to win a lot of games with that,” added Rasmussen, a former Lynnwood head coach. “But not when you give up 74. But it was a good game and I think it was very entertaining for everyone.”
The Grizzlies might have finished the comeback “if we’d had another minute or two,” he added with a smile. “But we just ran out of time.”
“Obviously Glacier Peak is a very good team and they made a (late) run,” Edwards said. “But we withstood that and we were able to get the win.”
At Lynnwood H.S.
Glacier Peak 11 9 26 22 — 68
Lynnwood 15 19 20 20 — 74
Glacier Peak _ Hawkins 26, Smith 23, Rasmussen 2, Hill 4, VanDlac 5, Gere 0, Fausey 0, Weathersby 8, Gaffney 0. Lynnwood _ Edwards 7, Maza 0, Douglas 5, Cross 9, Evans 5, Fajemisin 21, Ivanov 21, Parker 6, Wilson 0. 3-point goals _ Hawkins 1, Smith 2, Weathersby 2, Ivanov 6, Douglas 1. Records _ Glacier Peak is 2-2 in league, 3-4 overall. Lynnwood is 4-1, 7-1.
