MILL CREEK — The third quarter Saturday night belonged to Jackson and stealing the show in the 4A District 1 Championship game against Snohomish was sophomore guard Dan Kingma.
Kingma knocked down three 3-pointers in the quarter to help turn a three-point halftime deficit into an 11-point advantage. Jackson outscored Snohomish 28-14 in the period and the Timberwolves then weathered the Panthers’ fourth-quarter rally to win the district title 60-57.
“I’ve always watched this game, this district final, growing up and I’ve just dreamed about these games and I just wanted to hit the big shots,” Kingma said. “I’m happy they went in.”
Snohomish coach Len Bone wasn’t as thrilled.
“They (the Timberwolves) were definitely more solid in the third quarter,” Bone said. “Kingma’s baskets were big.”
Kingma, a sophomore, scored 14 points, all of them in the second half, helping give the Timberwolves a secondary scoring option to sophomore Jason Todd.
“I’ve known Dan since I was born,” Todd said. “I love that kid, that is my best friend right there and for him to step up and hit huge shots like that, that’s a credit to him. He works hard every day. He gets his shots up. He puts in work.”
Todd led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He also guarded Luke Hamlin, holding the Snohomish star to just 16 points, eight under his average.
The Timberwolves even had a third scoring option — another sophomore, Brian Zehr. Zehr scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds. Jackson coach Steve Johnson said it was important to have another scoring option inside.
“Brian was huge,” Johnson said. “It’s nice to see, our three sophomores really stepped up … He gave us another inside presence.”
Even with the three Jackson sophomores playing at such a high level and Hamlin struggling to find his normal offensive rhythm, the Panthers made a run in the fourth quarter and had a chance to tie the score in the final seconds, but Hamlin’s 3-pointer from the corner fell short at the buzzer.
“We were running something that we run, but we didn’t run it real well,” Bone said of the final play. “We didn’t want the ball in the corner.”
As they had for most of the game, the Timberwolves stayed at home on Hamlin.
“We have practiced that in the past,” Johnson said of the final play. “We try to switch all screens and don’t give anyone an open 3. When they’re down three (points) and they need a (3-pointer), that’s all that can beat you.
Johnson said his players did a good job switching on screens during Snohomish’s the final play. Then Todd fought through a screen “and he was the one who had the hand up” on Hamlin’s shot, Johnson said.
“We challenged the shot, we didn’t foul,” the coach added. “They didn’t have an open 3-point shot. I think that is all you can do.”
And with that defensive play, the team that was picked to finish third in the Wesco South is district champions.
“It means a lot,” Johnson said. “It’s a lot of hard work by a lot of different people.
“It’s great to have kids come in with expectations even when you lose four senior starters and I think these kids had expectations — and I’m really lucky to have some good athletes.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on twitter @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com. At Jackson H.S.
Snohomish11131419—57
Jackson9122811—60
Snohomish-Yates 17, Hamlin 16, Stewart 4, Crippen 11, Reichenberger 4, Bauska 0, Baird 5, Carlson 0, Caldwell 0. Jackson-Kingma 14, Brown 7, A. Graff 2, Willgress 0, Dodd 0, Todd 23, Zehr 10, K. Graff 2, T. Waite 2. 3-point goals-Yates 3, Hamlin 1, Baird 1, Kingma 4, Brown 1. Records-Snohomish 17-6, Jackson 18-5.
Lake Stevens 57, Ed-Woodway 51
MILL CREEK — The future looks bright for the Edmonds-Woodway boys basketball team.
The future is now for the Lake Stevens boys.
The Vikings defeated the Warriors in a 4A District 1 loser-out game. With the win, the Vikings host Bothell, the No. 3 seed from Kingco for a berth in the state regionals.
It was a game that featured a battle tested Vikings team against a young, but extremely talented, Warriors team. For three quarters it was unclear what team would persevere. Edmonds-Woodway’s star 6-7 sophomore post Travis Bakken had his team under his wing, while all-around athlete Christian Gasca carried the Vikings.
In the fourth quarter, it was Gasca that helped his team pull away. He finished with 23 points and eight rebounds to lead Lake Stevens.
“We wanted it,” Gasca said. “We practiced well, we prepared well for them. We have played them twice already this year. … We know what they like to do so we prepared well, our coaches did a good job of scouting. It made it a lot easier on us.”
At Jackson H.S.
Lake Stevens16121019—57
E-W16101510—51
Lake Stevens-Smith 15, Stoen 9, Tomson 3, Gasca 23, Pahukoa 7, Rahn 0, Rothgeb 0. Edmonds-Woodway-Pattison 8, Joseph 14, Rice 4, Peterson 2, Bakken 15, Smarr 4, Olson 4. 3-point goals-Pattison 1, Gasca 4, Stoen 1, Smith 3. Records-Lake Stevens 16-9. Edmonds-Woodway 15-9.
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