MILL CREEK – The Iddins brothers have hit a few 3-point shots while practicing together for much of their lives, but it’s never been this much fun.
Mark and Ben Iddins combined to hit 10 3-point baskets on Friday night to clinch the first boys basketball state playoff appearance in Kamiak High School history.
Michael O’Leary / The Herald
On a hot shooting night rarely seen in high school basketball – or any level – Kamiak beat Shorewood 68-62 on the scoreboard of a 4A District 1 semifinal at Jackson High School.
The Knights won the game-long 3-point shooting contest 13-9.
“Man, how many were there?” Kamiak coach Jeff Leary asked of the game’s 22 3-pointers. “That’s probably the most I’ve even seen.”
Ben Iddins, a sophomore point guard, knocked down six 3s and scored 20 points. Mark Iddins, a senior, who starred at quarterback for Kamiak’s state playoff football team, sank four and equaled his season high of 13 points.
“It’s the first time we’ve both been hitting on the same night,” said Mark Iddins, who helped Kamiak overcome a seven-point halftime deficit with three 3-pointers in the second half.
“This was a big game, and we had to step up, so we did,” his younger brother added. “Whatever we had to do to get there.”
The Knights, who improved to 16-6, will play the winner of Friday’s late Mountlake Terrace-Snohomish game on March 5 at Jackson. Shorewood (16-4) could earn the district’s final state berth – its first since 1986 – by beating Meadowdale on Tuesday and winning the third-place game on March 5.
Though the Knights shot any time they got a clean look at the basket for most of the game, Kamiak’s patient passing drill late in the game might have been the difference.
Just before the Thunderbirds missed their fourth consecutive free throw with 2:04 remaining to keep the score tied at 60, Leary told his team to work as much time off the clock as they could. After nearly 1 minutes of passing and dribbling, senior guard Sean Hermes made one of his patented Tasmanian Devil-like drives to the hoop. He banked the ball in off the backboard while being fouled with 37.8 seconds to go and made the accompanying free throw to give his team a 3-point lead.
“(Leary) said, ‘We’re working for the last shot, but if you get the ball, Sean, and you’ve got an opening, take it,” said Hermes, who scored 17 points. “I had the opening, so I took it.”
Billy Johnson, who added 12 points (including a pair of 3s) and a team-best five rebounds, stole the ball away from the Thunderbirds and made all four of his free throw attempts in the final 10.3 seconds.
Shorewood also shot the 3 well. Brock Hartman scored all 12 of his points from outside the arc. Rob Diederichs, who contributed game highs of 25 points and nine rebounds, made both of his 3-point baskets. He scored 19 points in the first half. Eric Perry made two 3s and Alex Burns had one.
The teams combined to sink eight 3-point shots in the first quarter, which ended with a 21-17 lead for the Thunderbirds.
Kamiak chipped away at its seven-point halftime deficit, knotting the score at 45 on Mark Iddins’ 3 with 3:12 to play in the third. The fourth quarter featured seven lead changes before Kamiak’s Rahiti Marere scored his first points of the game on a hook shot to tie the score at 60 with 2:39 remaining.
At Mill Creek
Kamiak17141918-68
Shorewood21171311-62
Kamiak-B. Iddins 20, Hermes 17, M. Iddins 13, Dawson 3, Johnson 12, Marere 3. Shorewood-Burns 3, Perry 8, T. Diederichs 7, Tracey 7, Hartman 12, R. Diederichs 25. 3-point goals-B. Iddins 6, M. Iddins 4, Dawson 1, Johnson 2, Burns 1, Perry 2, Hartman 4, R. Diederichs 2. Records-Kamiak 16-6 overall. Shorewood 18-4.
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