EDMONDS — It’s been business as usual for the Glacier Peak boys basketball team this season.
Once again the Grizzlies graduated the bulk of their squad after last year and once again the younger guys have stepped up. Glacier Peak completed its first sweep through the Wesco 3A South with a 62-42 road win over Edmonds-Woodway Thursday night to improve to 6-0 in the conference and 11-2 overall.
Glacier Peak has continued its success despite having just two varsity returners this season: Brady Southard and Justin Guffey.
“The benchmark of our program is we’ve always had a ton of guys graduate but our JV program and our freshman team have always been strong,” Glacier Peak head coach Brian Hunter said. “I’ve got great coaches. And those kids can play. Our younger guys are ready to go. They see guys graduate but they get excited because they know it’s their time.”
Thursday night was junior Zach Hatch’s time. The 6-foot guard scored 23 points — 15 of which came in the second half as the Grizzlies pulled away from Edmonds-Woodway.
The veteran Southard added a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds, continuing a strong senior campaign.
“He’s a competitor. He just gets it done,” Hunter said of Southard. “He’s not always textbook, but his desire and his heart are incredible. You can’t coach that.”
Glacier Peak used a 17-6 advantage in the second quarter to build a 33-16 halftime lead. In the second half, Edmonds-Woodway used an 8-0 run to get to within nine, but couldn’t get any closer as Hatch, Southard and Grant Peltier (nine points) helped the Grizzlies secure the victory.
“Road wins are tough. We feel really good about this one,” Hunter said. “This is a pretty hard place to play, honestly. For us, it’s an important game for us. We want to play our style no matter what we’re doing. We feel good about the fact that we’re playing decent basketball and it’s put us in a decent spot. Now we just have to continue it.”
Edmonds-Woodway (3-3 league, 8-6 overall) got off to a slow start for the second consecutive game. The Warriors, who struggled early in a 62-59 loss to Shorecrest on Tuesday, scored 16 points in the first half — all of which came from juniors Jordan Rice (11) and Brady Edwards (5).
“That’s the second game in a row we’ve come out flat like this — we came out flat like this against Shorecrest as well — and we just can’t come out flat,” Edmonds-Woodway head coach Robert Brown said. “(It’s tough to) fight back through a game like that.”
Rice continued his strong start to 2015 with a team-high 22 points. He has averaged 19 points per game over his last four contests while recovering from a dislocated finger.
“He’s had 20 every game except the Lynnwood game after he dislocated his finger but we suited him up just so we could get him a little work,” Brown said. “Right now he’s leading us. Jordan is an emotional kid. He gets after it. He wants to compete, he has no fear and he’s a selfless player — diving on the floor. That’s how he dislocated his finger. I just can’t say enough about him.”
Rice had a four-point play early in the third quarter to spark the Warriors’ 8-0 run, and the Edmonds-Woodway defense helped force turnovers and cut into the deficit.
“They’re definitely a tempo team — they’re trying to get turnovers,” Hunter said. “They’re a team that builds off their own energy. When they get one steal they try to get two and three and that turns into quick points.”
Brown said the third quarter, which Edmonds-Woodway outscored Glacier Peak in 17-15, is what the Warriors are hoping to do every period.
“The third quarter was good. That is what we want our program to look like,” Brown said. “We’d just like it to look like that for four quarters.”
Glacier Peak puts its perfect league record on the line Tuesday against a Shorewood squad that Hunter counts among the best in the conference.
“There’s a long way to go,” Hunter said. “We have, I think, our toughest game of the year Tuesday at Shorewood. … They’re legit. That’s going to be a heck of a game. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.
Glacier Peak 16 17 15 14 —62
Edmonds-Woodway 10 6 17 9 —42
Glacier Peak—Zach Hatch 23, Logan Preece 0, Brady Southard 15, Grant Peltier 9, Justin Guffey 5, Jacob Argue 0, Zach Argue 6, Jacob Middendorf 4. Edmonds-Woodway—Tre’var Holland 4, Jordan Rice 22, Marc Campagnaro 0, Brady Edwards 10, Dominic Marinez 2, Benji Parrilla 0, Noah Belai 0, Phinnian Rogan 0, Chuckwuma Okereke 2, Tanner Caraco 0, Ali Gaye 0, Ryan Peterson 2. 3-point goals—Hatch 5, Southard 1, Peltier 1, Guffey 1, Rice 2, Edwards 1. Records—Glacier Peak 6-0 league, 11-2 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 3-3, 8-6.
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