Stanwood girls basketball escapes with win at Arlington

Published 11:55 pm Wednesday, December 3, 2025

ARLINGTON — After carrying two-point leads into the second and third quarters at Arlington High School on Wednesday, Stanwood girls basketball found itself trailing 33-29 entering the final frame.

In game largely played around the perimeter — neither team allowing much action under the basket — coach Dustin Swanson urged his team to focus on remaining sound defensively entering the final quarter, not letting Arlington’s outside shooters put them off-balance.

Within the first two minutes, Stanwood tied it 33-33 with an elbow 3-pointer from sophomore Addy Schuh and a free throw from senior Ellalee Wortham, but Arlington pulled back ahead when sophomore Basia Pszonka nailed a 3-pointer after Stanwood fumbled away a would-be steal with about 5:30 left.

Despite the setback, Stanwood put Swanson’s words to action: Pszonka’s basket represented the final points Arlington scored.

Wortham hit a jumper from the free throw line with about 1:20 left to put the Spartans (2-0) ahead 37-36, but the Eagles (1-1) received an opportunity to win after they were granted two free throw attempts with one second left. However, both were missed, and Stanwood held on for the victory.

All according to plan. Kind of.

“That last possession, that was tough,” Swanson said. “We probably (learned) just a little lesson like, ‘Hey, don’t reach for the ball, especially when they’re in that double bonus.’ … Those things kind of happen, but we didn’t have a breakdown defensively. We played that whole possession and we were in the right spots, and there must have been a little reach, and bam, (Arlington) gets two opportunities (to win). But they were where they were supposed to be and they followed the plan, so I was happy about that.”

Wortham finished with five points in a relatively quiet night offensively, but she hit the crucial shots when it mattered down the stretch. Spending portions of the game in more of a post role than her traditional spot at guard, Wortham had four rebounds, two steals and one block. Swanson put her in those spots to aid the Spartans’ efforts to get the ball low when the Eagles were playing zone, and he felt she provided a good example of ways to impact the game without scoring 20 points.

“I think I’m able to see the court from a different angle,” Wortham said. “(Schuh) was on, Mylee (LaComb) was on in the beginning, so when I get it inside, I can quickly kick it out to our shooters who I know will make it.”

Schuh led the Spartans in scoring coming off the bench, with 12 points from four 3-pointers. Looking to carve out a consistent role as a sophomore, Schuh proved she can be relied on to hit outside shots as well as stepping up defensively with a couple of steals and rebounds. Schuh hit a couple of go-ahead 3’s in the second quarter, but she felt her last one in the fourth quarter to cut Stanwood’s deficit to 33-32 was her biggest one of the night.

“We needed it,” Schuh said. “(Wortham) did a good job finding me when she drove in, kicking it out.”

For Arlington, junior Kailee Anderson (12 points) and Pszonka (10 points) led the scoring, while freshman Grace Boekenoogen chipped in four points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

It was a tough way to lose for the Eagles and coach Lauryn Perrigo, but with a roster that consists of five freshmen and four sophomores, Perrigo called it a good learning experience. Most of all, she was impressed by the group’s determination, never quitting and responding well to the defensive adjustments she threw at them.

Wednesday marked Arlington’s first home game since the death of legendary Eagles coach Joe Marsh in May. He had stepped away from the program early in the 2024-25 season while battling stage 4 prostate cancer, and his brother, Sean, took over for him. Sean Marsh remains on the staff as an assistant, and the Eagles look to carry Joe’s legacy on.

“There’s always a lot of emotions for every game, and definitely especially for the home game,” Perrigo said. “He’s always in our hearts. He’s always in our mind. He was the biggest part of this program. And so every time that we step on the floor, he’s in our heart, we’re thinking of him, and always want to make him proud.”

Stanwood opened the game with a 6-1 run with a couple 3-pointers from LaComb. That would ultimately be the largest lead for either side the rest of the night. Arlington sophomore Finley Walker cut it back within two points with a 3-pointer of her own with around 4:45 left in the first quarter.

The two sides traded leads before Spartans sophomore Georgia Lenz won possession with a steal in Arlington’s end, kicked the ball out to a teammate, and grabbed the offensive rebound for the putback layup to tie it 10-10 with 2:13 left in the quarter. Wortham hit a couple of free throws a minute later to give Stanwood a 12-10 lead through one.

Anderson connected with Boekenoogen down low to tie it 12-12 with a layup to start off the second quarter, and the leads continued to change hands as Anderson and Pszonka knocked down 3-pointers for Arlington, which were each answered with matching treys from Schuh. Shots from behind the arc were practically the only way each side could score, as each defense forced at least one shot clock violation by cutting off passing lanes inside.

“It just was the flow of it,” Swanson said. “That’s just how that game was going to play out. They were pressing. They were changing the tempo a little bit. They were switching to man-zone. I just think that game was destined to be that kind of slugfest.”

Arlington pulled ahead in the third quarter with a couple of 3s from Anderson and free throws from senior Addi Green, but Stanwood junior Camrie Ingram pulled through with a couple of inside shots to keep the deficit within two points. Boekenoogen hit two more free throws to put the Eagles ahead 30-26, but Schuh cut it within one with her third 3-pointer of the night with 1:25 left in the quarter.

Watching Schuh’s clutch performance unfold from the Spartans bench was her father, Corby. The Marysville Getchell boys coach for the past 14 seasons, Corby Schuh stepped down this offseason. Between the Chargers program entering a significant turnover period following the graduation of nearly a dozen seniors and Addy’s ascent to Stanwood’s varsity roster, Corby felt it was a good time for him to step back and watch Addy’s high school career in full. Originally, he planned to do so from the stands, but Swanson called to inform him of an opening for the JV head coach/assistant on the varsity staff, and Schuh jumped at it.

“I love (Swanson’s) program. Been watching him for a couple years, and the success that they have,” Corby Schuh said. “The great family atmosphere that they have and good kids, and just being able to watch it from the games I could watch last year, it was good. I get the opportunity to coach my kid, but also (to) be a part of a program and continue to coach, it’s been awesome.”

While it’s been an adjustment for him to defer as an assistant, Schuh said his general philosophies align with Swanson’s in many areas.

One of those areas is playing good team basketball, which the Spartans displayed in the fourth quarter after Arlington freshman Kinsley Schmidt put the Eagles ahead 33-29 on an elbow 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in the third quarter. After Addy Schuh and Wortham worked the game back into a 33-33 tie, and Pszonka put the Eagles back ahead 36-33, the Spartans worked the ball inside to senior Presley Harris for a layup before Wortham came back to hit her go-ahead jumper.

“We’ve been trying to get it (to) the middle the whole game,” Wortham said. “They were in 2-3 zone the entire game, the middle was open. And that time, I just happened to turn around and make it.”

Arlington put itself in position to take the lead multiple times down the stretch, even forcing a turnover on a full-court press with nine seconds left. Ultimately, after missing four free throw attempts inside the final 21 seconds — including two in the final second — they couldn’t pull it out.

“They were at the line,” Wortham said. “(We) just (thought) that if she misses it, we’re gonna get this rebound and not let anybody take it out of our hands. … I think our team plays really well in a crowded gym, when it’s super loud, when we can’t really hear our coach. I think we thrive off that, so I think we were ready for this.”