Stanwood boys stay alive, fight past Seattle Prep 61-58

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 3, 2017

TACOMA — AJ Martinka scored 16 points and Chase Strieby added 15 as the No. 7-seed Stanwood boys basketball team kept its season alive with 61-58 win over No. 11-seed Seattle Prep in a Class 3A state consolation game Friday afternoon at the Tacoma Dome.

The victory secured Stanwood (23-4) a state trophy and advanced the Spartans to the fourth/sixth-place game against No. 8-seed Rainier Beach at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

“When you’re playing in a situation where your season’s on the line,” Stanwood coach Zach Ward said, “I think it really helps to have those eight seniors that we do. … Those guys wanted one more day.”

Seattle Prep (19-10) opened an early 12-2 lead, and then answered a late-first-quarter Stanwood run by pushing the margin back to nine points early in the second quarter. But the Spartans climbed back using their high-pressure defense, which sparked a 16-5 run that gave Stanwood a 33-31 lead midway through the third quarter.

Late in the fourth, Stanwood reserve Nate Kummer scored five points in a span of 20 seconds, including a tough lay-in on a three-point play that gave the Spartans a 57-55 lead with 1:55 left to play.

Then after Seattle Prep reclaimed a one-point edge, Strieby scored the go-ahead lay-in to put Stanwood in front 59-58 with 57 seconds left. Strieby added a pair of free throws with 16.8 seconds remaining to make it a three-point game, and Seattle Prep missed an off-balance 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Despite facing a height disadvantage inside, Stanwood outrebounded the Panthers 39-24. Martinka led the Spartans with nine boards.

Collin Welp, a 6-foot-9 junior, scored 18 points for Seattle Prep.

Stanwood can earn its highest finish in program history with a win over Rainier Beach (22-9) on Saturday. The Spartans have four sixth-place finishes (2014, 2002, 2001 and 1976).

The Vikings have won four of the last five 3A state titles, and will be Stanwood’s fourth Metro League opponent in the last week. The Spartans lost to Garfield in last Saturday’s state regional and to Nathan Hale in Thursday’s quarterfinals before beating Seattle Prep.

“I think that we’ve got good basketball up north,” Ward said. “We don’t necessarily always have the opportunity to play these guys. … It feels really good to come out and get (this) win.”