MORTON – Small-time venue, big-time start.
Playing in front of about 120 fans at Lewis County’s Morton High School gym, the Everett Explosion opened their inaugural season in style Saturday night with a 161-133 victory over the Lewis County Raptors. Rashaad Powell scored a game-high 44 points as the expansion team breezed to victory in its first International Basketball League game.
“Everybody was speculating this and that about our team, but this wasn’t about sending a message,” Powell said. “That’s not what we’re trying to do. There’s no need to put a lot of pressure on ourselves. It’s just nice to get the win.”
By beating another expansion team – the Raptors have now lost four of five games in their inaugural season, while Everett was making its IBL debut – the Explosion showed a lot of good things but are keeping their emotions in tact.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board on defense,” said coach Randy Redwine, who was hoping to hold opposing teams to around 80 points per game. “The defense needs work, but the offense is there. I knew we had guys who could score. I wasn’t worried about that.”
Powell, who also had 15 rebounds, eight assists and six steals, was one of five Everett players in double figures. Chris Weakley added 29 points, including eight 3-pointers, while Justin Murray had 24 points and 11 rebounds.
“It feels good” to win the game, Murray said. “We’ve been beating each other up for so long that it’s just nice to get out there and play against someone else.”
About two dozen Everett fans traveled with the team, which represented a pretty good chunk of the sparse crowd at Morton High.
The two teams felt each other out for most of the first quarter, exchanging baskets during a well-played 12 minutes. The Explosion closed that period with a 10-0 to go up 41-29, but Redwine tore into the players nonetheless.
The coach’s passion carried over to the court, with Everett dominating most of the second quarter. The Explosion shot 15 of 23 from the field, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range, to take an 88-67 halftime lead. Powell and Weakley sparked a 20-8 run midway through the period that eventually gave Everett a 24-point lead before Lewis County scored five of the final seven points of the quarter.
Powell scored 30 points in the first half alone.
While the Raptors made some runs in the second half, they never got closer than 14 points. The only drama left was settled 3:19 into the third quarter, when Everett went over the 100-point mark on Murray’s fastbreak layup. That gave the Explosion a 101-77 lead.
Along the way, there were several reminders that this was a minor league. While the play on the court was solid, the sparse crowd saw several strange moments.
* Whenever an Explosion player went to the foul line, the speakers played a crashing sound, followed by a siren. The speaker system was silent during the Raptors’ free throws.
* With only two towels in the entire building, there were several moments when players from both teams tried to clean up wet spots by rubbing their sneakers on the floor.
* The foul discrepancy was anything but balanced, with Everett getting whistled for 15 more fouls (35-20) and taking 22 fewer free throws (51-29).
* After Lewis County player/coach Greg Johnson twisted an ankle in the third quarter, he writhed around on the floor without any available trainers there to help. After about a minute of Lewis County teammates standing around and watching Johnson lie in pain, he was helped up and helped off the floor by two Raptors.
One player who looked nothing like a minor leaguer was Powell. He hit 15 of 28 field-goal attempts and 11 of 15 shots from the line. He only played about 15 of the 24 minutes in the first half, yet had 30 points at the break. He was held to just one third-quarter point, but still managed to finish with 44.
“Rashaad is Rashaad,” Redwine said. “He’s got a great game.”
Said Powell: “It makes it easier playing with the guys I play with. They make it easy to do what I do.”
Whether or not Powell wants to admit it, the expectations might be high and the pressure might be on if he continues to lead this expansion team to unexplored heights.
“The sky’s the limit,” said Murray, who scored 18 of his points in the second half. “We’re going to go as far as we’re willing to push ourselves.”
Notes: Before the game, the Explosion added 6-foot-11 center David White, who recently concluded his senior year at Seattle University. White is still attending classes at SU and is scheduled to graduate in June. He was in Everett’s starting lineup Saturday, when he scored two points. … As of late Saturday night, the Explosion was finalizing a trade involving forwards Sean Muilenburg and Mike Nowell. … Tuesday will mark the first home game in team history. The Explosion hosts Vancouver at 7:30 p.m. at the Everett Events Center.
Explosion41473538 – 161
Lewis County33343927- 133
Everett – A.Jones 3-4 0-0 7, Powell 15-28 11-15 44, Murray 11-16 2-3 24, Roome 5-6 2-2 12, White 1-1 0-0 2, Weakley 10-19 1-2 19, Steele 3-6 2-2 8, James 0-0 0-0 0, Walker 3-7 0-0 6, Schuh 2-4 0-0 4, Watts 4-8 2-2 12, Nelson 4-7 0-1 8, M.Jones 1-2 0-0 2, Dennis 0-0 0-0 0, Stallworth 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 63-111 21-29 161.
Lewis County – Frandsen 3-12 8-11 14, Anderson 5-9 5-5 15, Moore 16-35 5-11 39, Johnson 2-7 0-0 5, Walker 2-5 1-4 5, Frierson 7-15 1-1 15, Woods 5-7 11-14 22, Seim 2-3 2-2 6, Perry 5-8 2-5 12, Howard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 47-91 36-51 133.
Three-point goals – Everett 14-36 (Weakley 8-16, Powell 3-6, Watts 2-4, A.Jones 1-2, Schuh 0-2, Steele 0-2, Walker 0-4). LC: 3-19 (Moore 2-5, Woods 1-2, Seim 0-1, Anderson 0-2, Frierson 0-2, Frandsen 0-6).
Rebounds – Everett 57 (Powell 15). LC 41 (Moore 15).
Assists – Everett 28 (Powell 8). LC 17 (Frierson, Moore 4).
Records – Everett 1-0. LC 1-4.
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