Panthers qualify for state, get revenge

Published 11:47 pm Saturday, February 16, 2008

MILL CREEK — As Brad Shaw’s third 3-pointer of the third quarter fell through the net, he held his right arm aloft, demonstrating his picture perfect follow-through for just a few milliseconds longer than normal before turning and hustling back down the court to play defense.

The Snohomish junior’s 20-footer from the right baseline gave Snohomish a 42-30 lead over Stanwood, and silenced the Stanwood student section which only moments earlier had taunted him with chants of “airball,” referring to an ill-placed attempt from the first half.

“I just try and guide it in — there’s no taunting there,” he said of his on-court response to Stanwood’s grandstand theatrics. “You know, yeah it was nice (to hit those shots), but I never think about that stuff. I just try to play through it.”

Shaw finished with a game-high 19 points as the Panthers defeated Wesco North rival Stanwood 58-40 to qualify for the state tournament and advance to next Saturday’s 4A District 1 championship game, all while avenging their only Wesco loss of the season (61-56 to Stanwood on Feb. 1).

Stanwood plays Jackson at 8 p.m. Wednesday in a loser-out contest at Jackson High School.

“It’s kind of a tradition at Snohomish (to go to state), but it never gets old,” Shaw added. “We’re savoring the moment.”

Shaw’s nine-point third quarter, during which he connected for three of his four 3-pointers turned a 27-24 Snohomish lead into a 44-32 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, and the Panthers converted 12-of-19 free throws down the stretch to ice the game.

“His 3s were huge,” Snohomish coach Len Bone said. “It was a two or three point game until he hit a couple and we got a little bit of separation.”

The Panthers didn’t really seem to get into their offensive rhythm as Stanwood played a tough first half. The Spartans ran out to a 16-14 lead before Snohomish went on a 7-0 spurt to lead 21-14. But the Spartans battled back as Kale Schmidt connected for two 3-pointers to knot the contest at 24-24.

Zack Johnson, whose scrappiness in the post yielded nine rebounds, had 10 of his 14 points in the half as the Panthers struggled to contain him. His efforts and Schmidt’s timely 3-pointers kept the Spartans close.

“If you look at the hustle, I think we were OK on that,” Stanwood coach Zach Ward said.

Snohomish’s Zach Wilde hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give Snohomish the 27-24 halftime lead, and then the adjustments Bone made at the half seemed to take over.

“I told them that this is not a do-or-die game — but you need to have some fun out there,” Bone said. “I thought we were the tighter team in the first half.”

Shaw made it look easy as he connected for 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, then added his third with 2:00 left in the third quarter, giving Snohomish a 12-point lead that would get no smaller than 11 the rest of the way.

“We had a little trouble finding Brad Shaw,” Ward said. “He got loose there and (when there’s) separation with a team like that, you get down double digits and it’s tough to come back.”

Shaw had some help from Wilde, who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Brad Low also added 11 points for the Panthers, who will be making their sixth state tournament appearance in the past seven seasons.

Johnson had 14 points, and Schmidt added 10 for the Spartans, who must now win two loser-out contests to qualify for the state tournament. “Somebody’s going to go out of that back side of the bracket,” Ward said. “That’s pretty obvious, I know, but the kids need to understand that.”

At Jackson H.S.

Snohomish12151714—58

Stanwood141088—40

Snohomish — Cummins 2, Jeffries, Johnson 5, Klop 9, Leahy 2, Low 11, McGee, McGinnis, Pecha, Shaw 19, Wilde 10. Stanwood — Chabot, Cook, Edlund 4, Haugstad, Johnson 14, Klempel 6, Lawrence 4, Orcutt, Schmidt 10, Williams 2, Zipp, Zweber. 3-point goals — Schmidt 2, Shaw 4, Wilde 1 Johnson 1. Records — Snohomish 19-3 overall. Stanwood 12-10.