M-P shocks Warriors

Published 9:02 pm Wednesday, February 9, 2011

EDMONDS — Every February for the past three seasons the Marysville-Pilchuck girls basketball team has collided with Edmonds-Woodway in the 4A District 1 tournament.

It happened again on Wednesday night at Edmonds-Woodway High School as senior guard Morgan Martinis scored on a drive to t

he hoop with 1.6 seconds remaining on the clock to boost Marysville-Pilchuck to a 44-43 district tournament upset win over the South Division top-seeded Warriors for the third straight season.

Trailing 43-42 with less than 50 seconds remaining, M-P center Hannah Watson stole the ball on an E-W drive with 25 seconds left before the North Division No. 4-seed Tomahawks called a timeout with 12.4 seconds on the clock, still down one point.

On the ensuing possession, M-P forward Emily Enberg, who finished with six points, had a shot blocked by Sydney Donaldson, but the Tomahawks hustled to the loose ball and found Martinis streaking to the hoop.

The senior hit the layup in heavy traffic and E-W was unable to secure the inbound pass as M-P regained possession and escaped with the win.

“I knew I would either get fouled or kick it out to someone and there was only a couple seconds left,” said Martinis, who scored 13 points in the win. “Everyone was contributing tonight so it could have been anyone making that shot.”

Playing without point guard Andi Adams (who suffered a torn knee ligament on Jan. 26) and with a hobbled point guard Becca Lentz (who has missed considerable time late in the season with a knee injury), the Tomahawks have had to shuffle the lineup late in the season.

Despite losing four of their last five heading into the first round tilt, the Tomahawks (14-7 overall) deflected a 14-6 first quarter deficit and went on the offensive in the second, holding the Warriors (18-4) powerful offense to a 6:31 scoreless streak as M-P gained a 23-20 halftime lead.

Edmonds-Woodway’s 43 total points is the lowest output for the team this season.

“My kids are a bunch of fighters,” M-P head coach Julie Martin said. “We don’t really have any big superstar; we all have to work together. That’s what they did tonight, they all came together. My bench was awesome for the people on the floor and it was such a team effort. They worked their tails off tonight.
“It’s been rough not having two ball handlers for us and we’re having Dacia (Heckendorf) whose my wing/post bring the ball up and I need her to not be such a passer and more of a contributor. Despite all of our losses we still fought and they’re just wonderful girls that fight, fight, fight.”

Heckendorf scored a game-high 18 points, including a big baseline drive with 49.5 seconds left to pull M-P to within one point.

“Her heart could fill the whole team,” Martin said. “With her heart and dedication to basketball it’s really helped all these girls boost up.”

Three seasons, three district tournament games — all won by M-P by a combined five points.

The teams went to overtime in the regular season with E-W pulling out a 65-60 overtime win at home.
Donaldson finished with 17 points and Angela Woods had 11 for E-W, which hosts Kamiak on Saturday in a loser-out contest.

“I just felt like we had to come out and attack them,” Heckendorf said. “A lot of times we come out here and we’re timid, especially in a gym like this with tons of people. We had to come out and be focused … and we all had to step up individually.

“We all, especially losing two point guards, had to step into different spots. Everyone just stepped up and went into positions that we needed to win it, we didn’t really have a choice, we just filled in.”

Lentz played with a knee brace, but went down hard with 1:11 left in the game grabbing her already injured knee. She finished with three points for the Tomahawks, who host Monroe on Saturday in a winner-to-state semifinal. M-P has lost twice to Monroe this season.

“It was all about desire,” said E-W head coach Duane Hodges, whose team went the final 4:36 without scoring. “In spite of them being down players they had more desire than us.”

At Edmonds-Woodway H.S.

Marysville-Pilchuck 6 17 11 10 — 44
Edmonds-Woodway 14 6 12 11 — 43

Marysville-Pilchuck—Lentz 3, Pilon 2, Martinis 13, Peterson 0, Watson 2, Boyle 0, Enberg 6, Heckendorf 18. Edmonds-Woodway—Kasper 9, Eck 0, Nash 0, Kenney 4, Olajoyegbe 0, Albertson 2, Donaldson 17, Woods 11. 3-point goals—Lentz 1, Martinis 3, Heckendorf 1, Woods 2. Records—Marysville-Pilchuck 14-7 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 18-4.