EDMONDS – Rob McMains stormed off the court at halftime, disgusted with what he witnessed in the first 16 minutes.
By game’s end, the Edmonds-Woodway coach was baffled by his team’s 42-28 Western Conference South Division pounding at the hands of visiting Kamiak on Friday night.
“We had no life tonight,” he said. “They had a sense of urgency. We didn’t.”
This past week has been full of drama for the Warriors (9-4 in league, 10-5 overall). They eked out a last-second win over Meadowdale, but learned that leading rebounder and captain Casey Hamlett is done for the season after a team violation.
“He’s our emotional leader,” McMains said.
For the Knights (7-5, 8-6), the win was as crucial as they come.
With four 4A teams advancing to district out of the South Divison (Lynnwood will go to 3A district), this outcome helped solidify Kamiak’s post-season chances since it entered the game as the fourth 4A team in the division standings.
Kamiak, last year’s district champion, has looked brilliant one night (win over Lynnwood on Jan. 10) and far from it on another (14-point loss to rival Mariner the previous Friday night).
But like in their win over the Royals, the Knights showed why most coaches pegged them first in the pre-season.
“Kamiak is going to be tough down the stretch,” McMains said. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if they make a good playoff run too.”
Rahiti Marere (13 points), a 6-foot-6 senior post, was the game’s only double-digit scorer.
“When he shows up like that, I’d say he’s one of the best big men in the league – North or South (divisions),” Kamiak coach Jeff Leary said. “He doesn’t have to score a lot of points. He’s a good passer, plays good defense.”
Kamiak allowed just two points in the first quarter and three in the third, using a stifling zone defense (varying from a 1-2-2 to a match-up) that allowed hardly any offensive rebound opportunities.
“They’ve got some shooters so obviously we were conscious of that,” Leary said.
McMains cited a lack of ball movement and lack of vision as detrimental factors on the offensive end for the Warriors.
“Their defense makes you have to work on offense and we just weren’t willing to do that tonight,” he said. “So it was a perfect game plan for them.”
Ben Iddins’ 3-pointer with four seconds left in the first half made it 22-13 – Kamiak’s largest lead to that point.
On the last possession of the third, Journey Perry drained his third and final 3-pointer of the evening to bring the deficit to 20 at 36-16.
E-W, which beat Kamiak by a dozen last month, never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
The game was played with hardly a stoppage (13 free throw attempts combined) in a tidy 65 minutes.
Kamiak looks to continue its roll Tuesday night at home vs. undefeated Jackson.
At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.
Kamiak1012146-42
E-W211312-28
Kamiak-Iddins 5, Bullock 4, Perry 9, Tarver 2, Marere 13, Martinez 3, Stormo 4, Greenlee 2. E-W-Ortiz 5, Conti 2, Heard 7, Donaldson 2, Greenwood 6, Blackshire 4, Wafer 2. 3-point goals-Perry 3, Martinez, Iddins, Greenwood 2, Ortiz. JV score-Kamiak 61, E-W 42. Records-Kamiak 7-5 in league, 8-6 overall. E-W 9-4, 10-5.
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