MARYSVILLE — Give Cascade credit. At least it was creative in its effort to stop Taylor Stevens.
The Bruins came out defensively in a zone, a full-court press and a man-to-man, all in the first 17 minutes of their harassing a Stevens-led Marysville-Pilchuck offense Thursday night. None of it was overly effective, as Stevens scored 25 points to lead the Tomahawks to a 57-38 boys basketball win.
Not that Cascade should feel bad. It was just another night on the court for Stevens, who came into the contest averaging 19.8 points an outing.
“There’s really no answer against him. It’s not like he doesn’t score against a man-to-man, or he doesn’t score against a zone,” M-P head coach Bary Gould said of his 6-foot-6 senior post. “You also have to credit his teammates. Because, when he depends on his teammates, he does well.”
The victory kept Marysville-Pilchuck in a heated race for second place in the Wesco North. It moved to 9-5 in the league, just a half-game ahead of Lake Stevens and Monroe, who each play tonight.
“We came out on a mission tonight,” Stevens said. “We needed this game, because we need that second spot. You never know what might happen in the playoffs, so we need to get as high a seed as we can get.”
For a while, Cascade’s first defensive stab at the Tomahawks looked as if it was going to work. The Bruins gave up just five field goals the first 10 minutes with a tough zone and actually grabbed a 17-14 lead.
Once Marysville-Pilchuck learned how to beat that defense, however, the Tomahawks took complete control. They rattled off a 12-4 run behind seven points from Stevens and led 34-27 at halftime. Stevens then hit a 3-point bucket to begin the second half and finished with all but one of the Tomahawks’ points during a defensive third period.
Early in the fourth, a pair of free throws by Blake Lovell and a Colin Thomason three-point play made it a 47-33 advantage and started Cascade’s fade.
Still, it wasn’t until the final seconds ticked off that Gould started to feel comfortable.
“They were down 15 or 20 points in the third quarter against Monroe the other night and brought it to two by the end of the third. They don’t quit,” Gould said of the Bruins.
“They’re in the position of spoiler and they’re a young team working on the future, so we knew it would be tough,” he added.
Stevens shot 8-for-13 from the field. He hit three 3-point field goals and six free throws, and his 25 points made him the only Tomahawks player in double figures.
Matt Reading led Cascade with 11 points, followed by Spencer Hancock’s 10.
At Marysville-Pilchuck H.S.
Cascade131465—38
Marysville-Pilchuck1420815—57
Marysville-Pilchuck — Stevens 25, Kelly 7, Scheller 5, Lanphere 5, Thomason 5, Forsythe 4, Greene 4, Lovell 2, Elwell. Cascade — Reading 11, Hancock 10, Shewfelt 5, McGrath 4, Ogundadegbe 3, Joyce 3, McDaniels 2, Barton, King. 3-point field goals — Stevens 3, Reading 2, Hancock 1, Kelly 1. Records — M-P 9-5 league, 11-7 overall. Cascade 3-12, 3-15.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
