EDMONDS — Travis Bakken certainly didn’t play like a sophomore.
Bakken scored 16 points to lead Edmonds-Woodway to a 50-37 Wesco South boys basketball victory over Kamiak on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Warriors moved into sole possession of second place in the Wesco South behind Jackson.
“We thought that this was the biggest game for us so far this year, so we were ready to play,” Edmonds-Woodway head coach Steve Call said.
The 6-7 Bakken showed that he can do more than just score inside, stepping out to knock down several crucial shots for the Warriors.
“I was feeling my stroke today and I came out and did it,” Bakken said after the game.
Every time the Warriors needed points, it seemed that they could count on Bakken, despite being one of the youngest players on the team.
“It’s just hard work,” Bakken said. “I have put in a lot of work outside of practice here at school and it pays off. It definitely pays off.”
Bakken scored all eight of his first half points in the second quarter as both teams rebounded from an offensively anemic first quarter.
“We think the world of him,” Call said. “He’s worked a ton in the offseason — focused, takes good shots, works hard on defense, rebounds well. I’m looking forward to having him for a couple of more years that’s for sure.”
Bakken had a little help inside from the other Edmonds-Woodway force inside, Henry Olson, a 6-8 post who scored nine points.
But perhaps the biggest shot of the game came from someone much smaller in stature than Bakken and Olson. With two and a half minutes remaining in the game, Devin Joseph hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Warriors a 43-35 lead. The shot proved to be the final dagger.
Call said defense was key for the Warriors, who held a potent Kamiak offense to just 37 points.
“I thought our defense was phenomenal,” Call said.
The Knights were without one of their best players, Nicholas Kussman, who missed the game with a leg injury and the Warriors did a good job of containing the other Kamiak threats.
Imaan Vicente led the Knights with 17 points, but they were a quiet 17 as he never really got into an offensive rhythm.
“We focused on him,” Call said. “We knew he could shoot. He is a good player. We went after him hard in the second half.”
The Warriors also contained Knights point guard Josh Wisnubroto. Wisnubroto doesn’t usually provide much in the way of scoring, but he does keep the Knights offense working efficiently, the Warriors were able to disrupt that rhythm on Tuesday.
“We contained him which was our goal,” Call said. “I thought we had really good ball pressure when he had the ball and I thought we had good weak-side help. I thought we did a good job on him.”
It is early in the season, but the Warriors win over the Knights only gives them more reason to believe that they can compete for a Wesco South title.
“We are pleasantly surprised with the progress we have made so far,” Call said. “I told the guys I thought that this was our biggest game so far this year. A month from now we wanted to look on this game and know that we did well, so it was a big win for us.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Read his live blogs at www.heraldnet.com/prepzone, follow him on twitter @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.
Kamiak 7 13 10 7 — 37
Edmonds-Woodway 7 15 13 13 — 50
Kamiak-Wisnubroto 2, Berg 8, Vicente 17, Manchester 8, Carlson 2, Jouett 0, Blacksmith 0; Edmonds-Woodway-Pattison 8, Joseph 13, Rice 0, Jackson 0, Bakken 16, Hull 2, Smarr 2, Olson 9; 3-point goals-Pattison 1, Manchester 1, Vicente 1; Records-Kamiak 2-2 league, 5-2 overall; Edmonds-Woodway-3-1, 7-1.
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