MARYSVILLE – The Tommies just keep slaying the giants.
The Marysville-Pilchuck boys basketball team knocked off a first-place team for the second straight week, beating Cascade 50-44 in the Tomahawks’ gym on Friday.
M-P, which sputtered to a 2-3 division start with a young and inexperienced team, won its fourth straight game to move within a game of the top spot in the division. The Tommies handed Mount Vernon its first league loss on Jan. 11. Both of Cascade’s league losses have been issued by M-P, which improved to 6-3 in the division and 7-6 overall.
“It feels great to be the giant killers,” said Tomahawks guard Keaton Taitingfong, who scored a team-high 13 points. “In a couple of weeks, we hope to be the giants.”
It seemed unlikely a few weeks ago when Mount Vernon was undefeated, and the Bruins (now 7-2, 8-5) were cruising after their Dec. 8 69-66 overtime loss to Marysville-Pilchuck. Mount Vernon, however, lost to Cascade and M-P to muddy the division. The dessert for M-P on Friday was Snohomish’s 63-61 overtime victory over Mount Vernon (5-3, 8-4), which put the Tommies in sole possession of second place.
“To get two wins over the league leader – that’s outstanding,” said Tommies coach Mike Lowery, whose team also gained the tie-breaker edge over Cascade. “We have a lot of respect for what (the Bruins) do. Our kids came out ready for the challenge. I’m really proud of how we played.”
The two victories over Cascade were near mirror images of one another. M-P led by 14 at the half in the first game and used 8-for-8 free throw shooting in overtime to knock off the Bruins. This time, the Tomahawks led by 12 at the half, but saw the lead trimmed to 42-40 with 3:08 remaining in the game. Duane Lamphere grabbed both of his rebounds and scored three of his five points in the final minute to help seal it for M-P.
Six-foot-8 junior forward Marcus Guffey, who led the Bruins with 12 points and 10 rebounds, scored four points during Cascade’s 10-2 run to open the second half. His hook shot closed the gap to two points with 3:08 remaining. But the Tommies’ defense held the Bruins to one point over the next 2:54 to allow M-P to pull away.
“We started getting a little worried, but then we just stepped it up on offense,” said 6-foot-8 sophomore center Nathan Lozeau, who scored 12 points, pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and blocked three Cascade shots. “And, we played better defense when we needed it.”
Marysville-Pilchuck’s defense stymied the Bruins in the first half by forcing Cascade into 10 turnovers and 5-for-20 shooting.
In addition to stellar defense in the first half, the Tommies also used two spectacular plays to cap a 12-3 run that gave them an 11-point advantage with 4:11 to go in the half.
Marquise Moses, a standout running back for the football team, caught a pass near the basket from Taitingfong and turned it into an alley-oop layup. Moments later, Moses saved an errant M-P pass and scooped it to Brad Lovell, who laid the ball in for a 20-9 lead.
Though thrilled with giant victories over Mount Vernon and Cascade, Taitingfong said the Tomahawks need to continue to play the way they have the last two weeks.
“We tend to step up and play to our opponent’s level,” he said. “That can be good, or that can be bad. We knew tonight it was going to be a battle.”
Jared Stohl scored 10 points for M-P. Hilliard totaled eight points and nine points for the Bruins, who had won six straight.
At Marysville
Cascade6101414-44
M-P10181012-50
Cascade-Matson 2, Gill 6, Hilliard 8, Snel 9, Guffey 12, Carter 7. M-P-Doherty 2, Stohl 10, Taitingfong 13, Lanphere 5, Gallaher 4, Moses 2, Lozeau 12, Lovell 2. 3-point goals-Snel 2, Taitingfong 1. JV score-M-P 66, Cascade 56. Records-Cascade 7-2, 8-5. M-P 6-3, 7-6.
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