ARLINGTON — Brian Hill quickly found a positive after his team suffered a close loss in a tough early-season matchup.
The Glacier Peak head coach pointed out that his Grizzlies topped Arlington twice last season, but it was the Eagles who made it to the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
After a 62-59 non-conference loss Monday night at Arlington High School, Hill is hoping the Grizzlies follow a similar path as the Eagles did last season.
“Last year we beat them, by almost the exact same score, and they took fourth in state,” Hill said. “They beat us, so maybe we’ll take fourth in state.
“Or better.”
The two teams posted a combined 44-8 record a year ago with half of Arlington’s four losses coming against Glacier Peak. The Grizzlies edged Arlington 61-58 in a non-conference game early in the season — like Monday night’s — and 63-55 in a 3A District 1 semifinal contest.
However, Arlington made it to the Tacoma Dome and placed fourth, while Glacier Peak’s season ended in the regional round.
“I’d play them every night. That’s a fun game,” Hill said. “We started off pretty slow and they did a great job. Serafina (Balderas) was on fire. So, we had to battle back. We were down all night. I thought we showed a lot of character by battling strong. But I’d take that every night. That’s a good game.”
Arlington used a 6-0 run — and 10 first-half points by Balderas — to build a 37-30 halftime lead.
The Eagles added to their lead in the third quarter, before a 10-2 run by Glacier Peak to open the final period got the Grizzlies to within one, 51-50, with 4:30 remaining in the game.
But Arlington held off Glacier Peak, netting nine of its 13 fourth-quarter points from the free-throw line to hang on and clinch the win.
“I told the girls they’re going to make runs,” said Arlington head coach Joe Marsh. “They’re a really good team on the offensive end and they made their runs, but we survived them.”
The Eagles have emphasized free throws in practice after struggling from the line last season.
Senior Emma Janousek scored seven of her 11 points from the free-throw line and Gracie Castaneda, who finished with a team-high 18 points and eight rebounds, added five free throws in the fourth quarter.
“That’s why you want seniors as a coach,” Marsh said. “We struggled from the free-throw line all year last year and it’s been one of our focuses in practice. So far this year, we’ve been pretty good. Obviously, in a game like this, they’re super important.”
Balderas added 11 points for Arlington (6-0 overall) after struggling in the Eagles’ 53-45 win over Shorecrest last Friday.
“Fina had an awful shooting night against Shorecrest the other night. She was 0-for-the-night and she came out — I love the kid — just fearless,” Marsh said. “I told her I was glad she left all her misses on the floor the other night.”
Marsh said both teams came in looking for a battle and an indicator of where they were early in the season.
Both teams were successful in that regard.
“If I can get a game like that this early in the season — it’s just a great test with two great teams. It was exactly how I expected it to be,” Marsh said. “We got a lead, they came back. We stretched it out, they came back and it just goes right down to the wire. It was just great basketball.”
Last season’s losses to Glacier Peak was on the Eagles’ minds as they got ready to face the Grizzlies again.
“Absolutely. I don’t know if ‘revenge’ is the right word. We played well against them last year but they got us,” Marsh said. “We got them in our gym this time and we just had a little incentive to play well tonight. And we did. We got a great start to the game.”
Samantha Fatkin led Glacier Peak’s effort with 18 points. Guard Paisley Johnson and post Kayla Watkins finished with 11 points apiece, with Watkins grabbing 15 rebounds for the Grizzlies.
“In the second half we just tried to make sure that we were being more aggressive to the hoop and not just settling for outside shots,” Hill said. “(Arlington has) got some great shooters so they can settle — and they were hitting them. We just tried to make sure that we were being aggressive and taking care of the ball. We tried not to turn it over but they did a good job of frustrating us a little bit. That’s the way it goes.”
Watkins notched the double-double despite being a focal point for the Arlington defense.
“We’re very similar teams: you can’t really stop one person,” Marsh said. “We really wanted to take care of Kayla Watkins tonight because she is tough.”
Glacier Peak (5-1) was without senior guard Natalie Rasmussen, who is out with a leg injury. Rasmussen has played in just one game this season — the Grizzlies contest against crosstown rival Snohomish — but Hill hopes to have her back sooner rather than later.
“We’re just trying to make sure that she’s 100 percent at the end of the season and not 80 percent for the whole season,” Hill said. “It’s a leg bruise-contusion-something-or-other, but it could end up tearing if we’re not careful so we just want to make sure she’s OK. I don’t know when she’s going to back. Hopefully, she’s back by January.”
At Arlington H.S.
Glacier Peak 11 19 10 19 —59
Arlington 23 14 12 13 —62
Glacier Peak — Addison Sande 0, Paisley Johnson 11, Samantha Fatkin 18, Charlie Sevenants 5, Kayla Watkins 11, Maya McFadden 2, Makayla Guerra 2, Nicole Jensen 2, Abbie Juozapaitis 5. Arlington — Gracie Castaneda 18, Serafina Balderas 11, Sarah Shortt 5, Sevi Bielser 3, Peyton Brown 5, Olivia Larson 2, Emma Janousek 11, Abby Anderson 2, Jayla Russ 5. Records—Glacier Peak 5-1 overall. Arlington 6-0.
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