Lake Stevens boys outlast Monroe

Published 11:56 pm Friday, December 14, 2007

MONROE — Eight weeks ago Sean Stickney was worried he might miss the entire basketball season after suffering a serious knee injury playing football.

But there he was Friday, making his season debut and helping the unbeaten Lake Stevens High School boys basketball team to a victory.

Stickney, a junior forward, made four free throws in the final 25.8 seconds and the Vikings held off the Monroe Bearcats 54-49 in a Western Conference North Division game at the Monroe High gym.

Stickney’s four foul shots accounted for all of his points. He came off the bench to grab five rebounds and was one of several Lake Stevens reserves who made important contributions.

With Lake Stevens leading 50-47, Stickney went 4-for-4 at the foul line — impressive considering they were his first official attempts of the season.

“I’ve been shooting a lot of free throws in practice lately,” said Stickney, laughing.

Stickney tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee Oct. 19 in a football loss against Snohomish. Initially worried the injury was more serious and that he might be out nine months, Stickney came back in time to help the Vikings in the key situation.

“He’s a good free-throw shooter — one of our best, actually. He was calm and collected up there,” Lake Stevens coach Mark Hein said.

Forward Shane Kaska (14 points, eight rebounds), guard Jordan Carter (11 points, five steals) and guard Shane Pilon (11 points off the bench) led a balanced effort for ultra-deep Lake Stevens. Eleven different Vikings got playing time, and most of them did positive things.

Hein’s rotating lineup of contributors made a huge defensive impact in the third quarter, when Lake Stevens used a pivotal 12-0 spurt to turn a four-point deficit into an eight-point lead. Monroe never got closer than three after that.

“In the third quarter, (Lake Stevens) hit a couple of big shots and kind of went on a run, and they just kept that constant pressure the whole game and I think it wore us down,” Monroe coach Brett Wille said.

“We feel like our depth is the strength of our team,” Hein said. “We feel like if we can just hang in, we have a really good shot (to win) in the fourth quarter.”

In a crazy second quarter, Monroe started with a 9-0 run and jumped in front 24-14. But Lake Stevens responded with an 11-2 burst and got within one (26-25) by halftime. Pilon, an energetic 5-foot-8 senior, scored seven points in the final 70 seconds of the half.

“He’s like a little microwave. He had a really good performance,” Hein said.

Forwards James MacIntyre (14 points) and Tim Pearl (12) were the top scorers for Monroe (1-2, 1-2). The Bearcats got within 50-47 with 1:25 to go in the fourth quarter when forward Jason Waltman (eight points, nine boards) made a 3-pointer from the middle.

But Monroe had two particularly costly turnovers down the stretch and Stickney essentially clinched the triumph for Lake Stevens at the foul line.

After pulling off one-point victories in their first two games (61-60 over Edmonds-Woodway and 52-51 versus Wesco North foe Stanwood), the Vikings finished off a five-point win that felt like a landslide triumph, Stickney said.

“Being up by six (late in the game) definitely feels like a huge lead compared to the last couple games,” he said. “I was feeling pretty comfortable because we’re always a solid team in the fourth quarter. We’re good closers.”

At Monroe H.S.

Lake Stevens14111712— 54

Monroe15111112—49

Lake Stevens — Adams 4, Carter 11, Legg 3, Kurisu 1, Kaska 14, Pilon 11, Shoemake 4, Dodge 2, Elfeghih, Stickney 4, Russum. Monroe — Ohlsen 11, Bunge 2, Pearl 12, Waltman 8, MacIntyre 14, Shelford 2, Sonneveldt, Churlin. 3-point goals — Kaska 2, Pilon 1, Carter 1, Legg 1, Ohlsen 1, Waltman 2. JV score-Lake Stevens defeated Monroe. Records-Lake Stevens 2-0 in division, 3-0 overall. Monroe 1-2, 1-2.