Cascade atones for early season loss to Panthers

EVERETT – When the Cascade Bruins took the floor against the Snohomish Panthers more than a month ago, Cascade endured a metaphorical whack on the chin.

But that 19-point drubbing Dec. 16 at Snohomish stuck with Cascade. The Bruins knew they were better than that, and Tuesday night they proved it.

Sustaining a potent dose of energy it displayed from the opening tip, Cascade out-rebounded Snohomish 39-18, built a 14-point third-quarter lead and held on for a 58-50 victory in a Western Conference North Division boys basketball game at the Cascade High gym.

Senior guard Chris Hilliard (16 points) was one of four players who scored 10 or more for the Bruins (9-2 Wesco North, 12-3 overall), who ended Snohomish’s win streak at 11.

“I’m very pleased with our effort tonight,” said Cascade coach Kevin Rohrich, whose team moved within a half-game of first-place Snohomish (10-2, 14-2) with just over two weeks to go in the regular season. “We played hard for 32 minutes. We showed that we can play much better than we did last time (against Snohomish).”

Cascade led the entire game, although things got interesting when Snohomish pulled within five late in the fourth quarter. Senior posts Sean Carter (14 points) and Marcus Guffey combined to snare 23 rebounds for the Bruins, who made 14 of 17 foul shots. Guffey also limited Snohomish’s leading scorer, forward Tim Diederichs, to three second-half points.

“Marcus did a good job on Diederichs,” Rohrich said. “He kept him off the glass.”

Cascade’s rebounding dominance was an about-face from its last effort against Snohomish, when the Panthers grabbed 21 more boards.

“They did a great job,” Snohomish coach Len Bone said of Cascade. ” … They gave us some things to work on.”

With four games remaining, Cascade is in excellent position to fight for the league’s No. 1 Class 4A district tournament berth. The Bruins need just one more victory to clinch one of the league’s four postseason slots.

“We control our destiny,” Cascade senior guard Mike Matson (14 points) said. “It’s in our hands (and) it’s a really good feeling.”

Seniors Seth Follis, a guard, and Nate VanDuine, a forward, had 14 points apiece for Snohomish, which is ranked No. 4 in this week’s WashingtonPreps.com 4A poll. The Panthers forced a barrage of Bruins turnovers (11 in less than seven minutes) to get within 54-49 with 1:24 remaining. But Snohomish missed several 3-point attempts down the stretch and never got any closer. Cascade’s early lead proved too much to overcome.

“Defensively, we were not as sound as we need to be,” Snohomish’s Bone said. “A lot of (Cascade) guys were left open and they got some transition baskets.”

Snohomish, which has already secured a district berth, clawed within four early in the third quarter, but Cascade responded with an 11-1 run that made it 48-34 and led Snohomish’s Bone to call for time out. Four players scored during the stretch for Cascade, which built a 50-36 lead through three quarters.

Snohomish flustered Matson and the Bruins in the fourth, but Cascade refused to let go. Matson found Guffey all alone under the hoop for a powerful two-handed dunk that made it 56-49 with 35 seconds remaining and all but sealed Snohomish’s fate.

Said Cascade’s Rohrich of the finish, “We did a good job of keeping our composure there.”

At Cascade H.S.

Snohomish1117814-50

Cascade1916158-58

Snohomish-Follis 14, Diederichs 11, Wilde 1, Desimone 9, VanDuine 14, Williams 1. Cascade-Matson 14, Hilliard 16, Snel 10, Guffey 4, Carter 14. 3-point goals-Follis 4, Matson 1, Hilliard 1, Snel 2. JV score-Snohomish 50, Cascade 42. Records-Snohomish 10-2 in division, 14-2 overall. Cascade 9-2, 12-3.

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