SNOHOMISH — The Glacier Peak boys basketball team capped off its senior night and regular season on Thursday night on a high note.
The Grizzlies trounced visiting Kamiak in a wire-to-wire 66-33 win to capture an outright Wesco 4A title.
After Glacier Peak (20-1 overall, 7-1 league) escaped with a 69-67 win over the Knights (9-8, 4-4) on Jan. 22, the Grizzlies rebounded with a full four quarters of convincing play in the second meetup.
“Truthfully, they had a great game plan against us last time,” Glacier Peak head coach Brian Hunter said. “I feel like we prepared for what they did well against us, and I think our kids are starting to realize that we’re a really young team. They’re starting to figure out how you have to play when it matters most.”
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Glacier Peak had already sealed up at least a share of the league’s title with its win over Mariner on Monday. It’s the team’s first since 2020.
“This was the goal from the start,” Cuellar said. “This is just one milestone for us, we’re trying to go to the (Tacoma) Dome. It’s just one goal at a time, one game at a time.”
Senior forward Adam Loum led three Grizzlies in double figures scoring with 18 points, adding five rebounds. Senior guard Isaiah Cuellar had 15 points and junior standout Jo Lee came off the bench and provided 14 points. Sophomore Reed Nagel tacked on nine points and six assists.
Senior post David Zieve paced Kamiak with 14 points and eight boards, sophomore Max Christiansen added 13 points and five rebounds while the rest of the Knights combined for just six points.
Glacier Peak’s Zachary Albright (20) and Isaiah Cuellar (3) fight Kamiak’s David Zieve for a rebound during a game on Thursday at Glacier Peak High School in Snohomish. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Glacier Peak opened up a 22-3 lead midway through the second frame as Kamiak’s first field goal didn’t come until the final minute of the first.
Lee posted eight of his 14 points in the second period on a handful of drives to the basket, while Cuellar notched seven points in the frame as the Grizzlies owned a 31-13 advantage at intermission.
Cuellar drilled one of his trio of 3-pointers at the 2:45 mark in the third to give Glacier Peak a 43-21 cushion and trigger a Kamiak timeout. Loum rose up and put in a layup off a lob from Nagel on an inbounds pass from the baseline at the third-quarter buzzer for a 47-25 advantage entering fourth.
“I told the team before the game that I’ve had very few teams that have been as connected and enjoy each other as this group does,” Hunter said. “I think you saw that tonight, kids were pulling for each other. They wanted to take a game like this and make sure they had a great night.”
The Grizzlies held suit the rest of the way and Loum closed with 10 of his 18 points in the fourth.
With a first-round bye and home-court advantage through the semifinals in the upcoming Class 4A bi-district tournament, Glacier Peak has over a week before it delves into postseason play.
“That was something we talked about,” Hunter said. “Obviously our games down the road are much more meaningful. We wanted to play well and you want your last thought about being on the court to be the right mentality. … We’ve created some good habits this season, so tonight was important for us moving forward … because districts will be tough.”
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