ARLINGTON — Lake Stevens warded off first-half foul trouble and sank nine 3-pointers, including five in a second-half surge, for a 68-56 Wesco North win Tuesday night at Arlington High School.
Aaron Maw, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to break open a three-point game despite playing with four fouls. Maw, who finished with 17 points and five rebounds for Lake Stevens (2-0 overall, 1-0 league), eventually fouled out with 2 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the contest.
“We made some timely shots,” Lake Stevens head coach Mark Hein said of the second-half run in which the Vikings outscored Arlington (2-1, 0-1) 41-24. “… I thought we had some good play off the bench.”
Indeed, with Maw and fellow senior forward Shane Kaska picking up their third fouls in the second quarter, 6-foot-1 senior guard Zac Israel stepped off the bench and connected with four 3-pointers.
Israel finished with 12 points for the Vikings, whose bench outscored Arlington 22-6 during the game.
“He (Israel) hit some timely 3s and actually played solid defensively, too,” Hein said.
“He didn’t surprise us,” Arlington head coach Nick Brown said of Israel. “We knew he was a good player.”
Kaska, one of Lake Stevens’ leading scorers coming into the game, finished with six points and five rebounds and fouled out with 1:15 remaining in the game.
“It changes a lot,” Hein said of his game-plan when handcuffed by foul trouble to two of his best players. “It has got to be a learning experience for them (Kaska and Maw), they are important on both ends of the floor for us.”
Arlington jumped out to a five-point lead at halftime thanks to strong play from its different motion offenses and 12 points from junior Griffin Ginnis.
The Eagles capitalized on Lake Stevens’ early foul trouble by sinking 12 of 13 free throws in the first half and effectively neutralizing the Vikings defensive sets.
Arlington shot 20 of 23 from the stripe for the contest, but the same focus and defensive awareness wasn’t on display in the second half.
“They put the hammer down in the third quarter,” Brown said. “They hit their shots … turnovers killed us.”
Arlington turned the ball over 22 times, many of them coming in the second half.
Lake Stevens exploited a brief Arlington switch to a 1-3-1 zone defense and found some open looks while knocking down several 3-pointers.
“We have a lot of guys that can shoot those,” Hein said. “(Arlington) went to a 1-3-1 zone for a few possessions and we were able to get a few off of that.”
Arlington head coach Nick Brown will remain on the bench for the Eagles despite some difficult family developments.
Brown’s wife, Caryn, was diagnosed with breast cancer last Thursday before Arlington’s win over Ferndale. Brown said the couple will soon find out the severity of Caryn’s cancer and proceed from there with treatment options.
As a sign of support, Arlington cheerleaders wore pink ribbons in their hair and the team’s female managers wore pink shirts expressing support for Caryn.
As Brown will be there for his wife, he said he wants to make sure the team knows he’ll be there for them as well.
“I plan on being with these guys the whole time,” Brown said.
At Arlington H.S.
Lake Stevens14132120—68
Arlington15171311—56
Lake Stevens—Israel 12, Isaksen 0, Finley 11, Schneider 3, Hanson 9, Maw 17, S. Dodge 0, Paulson 0, Jones 0, J. Dodge 5, Kaska 6, Vandegrift 5. Arlington—E. Carlson 16, Cooper 11, Peterson 7, Davis 2, Kurtzenacker 0, Ginnis 12, Smith 4, Brummel 0, Ladines 0, Robertson 4. 3-pointers—Israel 4, Hanson 3, Maw 2, Cooper 1, Ginnis 1. Records—Lake Stevens 2-0 overall, 1-0 league. Arlington 2-1, 0-1.
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