Glacier Peak boys ride stifling defense to bi-district title

EVERETT — From feeling overlooked three months ago to cutting a net down in the Wes-King Bi-District Tournament title game, Glacier Peak would be hard-pressed to dream up a better regular season and beginning to postseason play.

After stacking up 20 consecutive regular-season wins and claiming a Wesco 4A league title, the Grizzlies added three more wins in six days to tack on a district championship to their resume.

On Friday night, Glacier Peak earned win No. 23 using a dominant defensive performance. For 32 minutes, the Grizzlies hounded Inglemoor’s offense, giving the Vikings little room to operate and few open shots.

Glacier Peak held an opponent under 30 points for the fourth time this season, earning a 50-29 championship win at Everett Community College’s Walt Price Student Fitness Center gym.

“It’s great,” said GP coach Brian Hunter. “It’s really cool for these guys that have worked so hard. We didn’t have huge expectations I don’t think outside of our program, so to accomplish this has been awesome.”

Next for the Grizzlies (23-0) will be a regional state tournament game, which will almost certainly be for a first-round bye at the 4A Hardwood Classic.

There were no shortage of Glacier Peak offensive and defensive contributors Friday.

Senior Brayden Corwin led GP’s balanced attack with 11 points. Brayden Quantrille added nine points, nine rebounds and three assists, while Bobby Siebers scored nine points and Tucker Molina recorded eight to go with five assists. Senior 6-foot-6 forward Pierce Darlington had five points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

In what Hunter considered somewhat of an off-night for Glacier Peak’s offense, the Grizzlies’ defense more than made up for it. GP’s first half zone look kept Inglemoor off-balance, and the Vikings finished with just 10 first-half points on four made field goals.

“It was super,” Hunter said of his team’s defense. “It’s hard to get on a guy at halftime in the locker room and say, ‘You got to pick it up on the defensive end,’ having given up 10.”

After an initial feeling-out period, Glacier Peak turned a 5-4 deficit into a 19-7 lead over a 10 minute first-half span.

Reserve guard Caleb Lee gave the Grizzlies a strong boost off the bench late in the second quarter, scoring four points and sending GP into the break with a 24-10 advantage.

Already well-positioned for a title win, Corwin essentially put the game away for good during a 1:35 third-quarter display of marksman perimeter shooting

Corwin first knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, extending the Grizzly’s lead to 31-13 with 4:55 to go in the third. Then Corwin went next-level. The sharpshooter worked off a screen to get enough space for a third straight 3-point attempt, but in mid-air an Inglemoor defender positioned himself to block Corwin. The GP senior double-pumped to get a shot off and buried it, pushing GP’s lead to 34-13 and prompting an Inglemoor timeout.

“After the first half, going 0-for-4, coming into the second half feeling good with the team energy, I just felt like firing,” Corwin said. “The last (3), I saw his hand, avoided it and just followed through. It went in and felt really good to get those three.”

Glacier Peak led by as much as 25 early in the fourth quarter and cruised the rest of the way.