EVERETT — The Arlington boys basketball team shook off a cold shooting stretch and picked up the pieces in the fourth quarter on Friday night.
The Eagles outscored Everett 19-11 in the final period to pull out a 66-57 victory in a key Wesco 3A/2A matchup at Everett High School.
Junior point guard Leyton Martin was the catalyst for Arlington (14-4 overall, 11-1 league), recording 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists as the rest of the Eagles’ crew stepped up late.
Junior wing Jake Willis rang up 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, junior 6-foot-6 post Billy Kooy added 10 points and five boards and Kaid Hunter chipped in eight points and four rebounds.
“I think this is really the first time we’ve had to buckle down defensively and get a lot of stops down the stretch,” Martin said. “We got a lot of our points in transition. … I think Jacoby (Falor) did a really good job on Isaiah (White) in the second half at just slowing him down, it was good.”
The 6-foot-5 White tallied 17 points and 13 rebounds on the night, but was held to just four points after intermission.
The Seagulls (11-8 overall, 9-4 league) fell behind by eight in the final seconds of the first frame before White drained a 3-pointer from half court at the buzzer, making it 18-13 heading into the second quarter.
After Arlington claimed a 26-17 lead midway through the second, Everett responded with a 15-4 run and led 32-30 at the half.
“I felt our guys had fight,” Seagulls head coach Bobby Thompson said. “We didn’t really come out ready at the start, but we responded well and I thought it was there to be had at the end. We’ll grow and learn from tonight.”
Junior forward Sam Lawless pitched in 17 points and five rebounds, while senior sharpshooter Ty Bloomfield was held to eight points and produced just one point in the second half.
Everett’s Sam Lawless (14) moves with the ball during a boys basketball game between Arlington and Everett on Firday at Everett High School. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
“(Arlington does) a lot of things to make it difficult on you,” Thompson said. “They did a really good job of specializing on Ty and making his opportunities more challenging, and I probably needed to do a better job as a coach adjusting to that.”
The Seagulls took a 42-39 advantage in the third period as Bloomfield slipped a pass underneath to Lawless for a lay-in, triggering an Arlington timeout at the 3:37 mark.
The Eagles kept things in order for the rest of the third and grabbed a 47-46 lead entering the fourth.
Willis sunk a triple from the corner on the opening play of the fourth and followed with another 3 with 6:35 to left to play as Arlington built a 53-46 cushion.
Everett senior point guard Mahamed Juma helped the Seagulls shave the lead back down to one possession with a 3-pointer from the wing to make it 53-50 with less than four minutes remaining. However, Arlington held off the Seagulls late rally attempt.
“They’re a very good team and Bobby does a great job with them,” Eagles head coach Nick Brown said. “They’re defense is tough and hits a little differently from what we’re used to seeing. We knew it would be and we practiced against similar things, but it’s hard to simulate what they do.”
As the final stretch of the regular season inches toward a close, Martin feels confident in the position his Eagles sit.
“It definitely feels nice to be where we’re at,” Martin said. “We’re about at the same point as we were last year, which is always nice since we made it to the Tacoma Dome last year. But we got bigger plans ahead, for sure.”
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