LAKE STEVENS — It turns out putting up a perfect record of 19-0 is a hard thing to do no matter the league, the level or the sport.
The resilient Snohomish Panthers demonstrated just how difficult it is for any team to march unfettered through the Western Conference North Division with a 47-38 comeback victory over the previously unbeaten Lake Stevens Vikings Monday night in a girls basketball game at Lake Stevens High School.
Despite suffering its first setback after reeling off 18 consecutive victories, Lake Stevens (14-1 in division, 18-1 overall) retains the inside track to the division crown. The Vikings play at Everett (4-10, 5-12) Wednesday night and with a victory will gain the No. 1 seed to the upcoming 4A District 1 tournament.
Second-place Snohomish (13-2, 15-4) closes out the regular season with a home game against Monroe (5-9, 6-12) on Wednesday.
“We’ve been fortunate and gone through a lot of tough situations,” Lake Stevens coach Randall Edens said. “Snohomish played great, but we would trade whatever the streak was for a trip back to Tacoma Dome (for the class 4A state tournament) and that’s been our focus from day one.”
An upset seemed unlikely after a 3-pointer by Mary Ochiltree (who scored a game-high 17 points) gave Lake Stevens a 29-19 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
But, the Panthers caught fire with a host of players kindling the blaze that became a 28-9 run over the final 13 minutes.
“Our kids have played like that all year,” Snohomish coach Ken Roberts said. “Our losses have been by one point, four points, three points … our kids have battled no matter what and played through some tough stuff and always give themselves a chance to win.”
Emily Guthrie (7 points) and Karley Lampman (12 points) each knocked down a 3-pointer to strike up an 8-0 Snohomish run to close the third quarter.
Allison Burns (11 points) sank a pair of free throws to knot the score at 33-33 entering the final quarter.
Panthers’ post Katie Benson — who had four critical rebounds late in the game — drove the lane and converted a 3-point play in the opening sequence of the fourth quarter to give Snohomish a 36-33 lead, its first advantage since her lay-in provided a 15-14 lead midway into the second period.
“That was a great finish by Katie,” Roberts said. “She did a great job inside defensively helping on the (Lake Stevens) bigs.”
Shante Scott (six points) shook her fists at her teammates on the bench after making an inside bucket that provided a 38-34 lead with 5:05 to play.
“Shante was all over tonight,” Roberts noted. “On the floor after loose balls and on the boards.”
“When Shaunte gets excited it gets everybody pumped up,” Lampman said. “I’m so proud of my team because we came in with such passion and heart … we wanted this game so bad.”
Lampman’s all around effort inspired the Panthers.
“We need her to play like she’s capable and she did tonight,” Roberts said.
Guthrie threw down a 3-pointer from right of the circle to increase the margin to seven points with four minutes remaining.
Leah Tate got the Vikings back within four with a 3-pointer, but that was as close as they would get to averting defeat.
Scott was clutch, making three of four foul shots in the waning seconds to hold Lake Stevens at bay.
“They made a run, started to hit some shots and we got a little stagnant,” said Edens, whose team managed just five fourth-quarter points. “They were real good defensively and we didn’t hit shots.
“We feel pretty confident we’re going to go get it Wednesday (at Everett) and wrap up a good (regular) season,” Edens continued. “We’ll be motivated, we can’t hang our heads because we’ve got to get it done.”
At Lake Stevens H.S.
Snohomish981614—47
Lake Stevens91595—38
Snohomish — Guthrie 7, Lampman 12, Burns 11, Benson 9, Heard 2, Scott 6, Miller, Fairbanks. Lake Stevens — Ochiltree 17, Tri 4, Bostwick 2, Tate 3, Gallagher 12, Schumacher, Personius. 3-point goals — Guthrie 2, Lampman 2, Burns 1, Ochiltree 3. J.V. Result — Lake Stevens 51, Snohomish 40. Records — Snohomish 13-2 in division, 15-4 overall. Lake Stevens 14-1, 18-1.
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