LAKE STEVENS — Mark Hein already has a long to-fix list, but the end result for the Lake Stevens boys basketball team was just right, especially in a rare debut-times-two.
Overcoming a slew of turnovers and scattered defensive lapses, Lake Stevens played a solid second half to defeat Ferndale 56-41 Tuesday night in a season-opening non-conference game.
Hein, the 35-year-old in his first season as the Vikings head coach, saw good and bad but he was happy to kick off the season with a victory.
"We played (well) in spurts, that was for sure," he said. "Obviously, we wanted to establish a good start to our season.”
Lake Stevens led 23-16 at the half but sloppy ballhandling prevented the Vikings from breaking away. Overall, they committed 22 turnovers.
"In terms of quality of play," Hein said, "I think we’re a long ways from how we want to play."
Lake Stevens put everything together in the third quarter, outscoring Ferndale 18-12. The Vikings just needed to get warmed up.
"Just starting out, we kind of had the first-game jitters," said Lake Stevens forward Bobby Bernethy, who scored 12 points.
Guard Matt Stevens, who scored a team-high 18 points, said the Vikings played hard and the desired results eventually came.
"I think we gave a really good effort," Stevens said, "and ended up playing good defense down the stretch."
"Overall, the effort of everybody was good," Hein agreed, "and that’s something to build on."
Point guard Jeremy Roe led Lake Stevens with seven assists. Jacob Strong and reserve Aaron Bolyard each had a team-high six rebounds.
Despite struggling with turnovers, the Vikings did force Ferndale into committing 24 turnovers.
Senior forward Tyler Long added 12 points for Lake Stevens, and he provided a pair of impressive, crowd-pleasing plays.
With five minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Long leaped and scored on an alley-oop pass from teammate Greg Hendrickson to put the Vikings up 45-33.
Earlier in the game, with 2:20 left in the third, Long thwarted what appeared to be a two-on-none Golden Eagles’ fast break. He chased down Ferndale guard Cam Dahl and soared near the left side of the rim to swat Dahl’s layup attempt off the backboard.
Dressed in a black suit with matching shoes and a yellow tie for school spirit, Hein said only one thing was truly different about this season-opener. "This is the first game I’ve ever gone into without knowing anything about the opponent. That was kind of weird."
Early last summer Hein replaced longtime Lake Stevens coach Norm Lowery, who resigned after 14 seasons. Hein led Spokane’s University High the past four seasons before venturing west to Lake Stevens, which he said is "a great spot to have long-term success.
"It’s a great community," Hein said on Monday. "It’s a large high school. I feel like we have a good nucleus of kids."
At Lake Stevens
Ferndale5111213—41
Lake Stevens9141815—56
Ferndale—Dahl 6, Mehler 2, Gallagher 5, Sasken 6, Locker 12, Paulson 4, Mead 1, Wilgus 5. L. Stevens—Roe 2, Bernethy 12, Stevens 18, Strong 5, Long 12, Stoen 2, Bolyard 5. 3-point goals—Stevens 3, Bernethy 2, Bolyard 1, Sasken 2, Locker 2. JV score—L. Stevens 58, Ferndale 39. Records—Ferndale 0-1 overall. L. Stevens 1-0.
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