EVERETT – Mariner guard Wesley Burns slammed shut Marysville-Pilchuck’s valiant second-half comeback with clutch free-throw shooting to lift the Marauders to a 72-69 home victory Monday in a Western Conference loser-out district qualifying game.
Mariner (13-8 overall), which won six of its last seven games, plays Mount Vernon in a first-round Class 4A district playoff game at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Mount Vernon High School.
After losing its first five games of the season, Marysville-Pilchuck finished the season 8-14.
Burns, a 5-foot-6 senior guard, made eight consecutive free throws in the final 33 seconds in a game the Marauders led by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter. Burns finished with 12 points and Tommy Craddock scored 20 points to lead Mariner.
“All I thought about was this could be my last game of the season,” Burns said. “It all came down to this. It was a matter of heart. No matter the size, we can beat anyone in the state because of how much heart this team has.”
The Marauders looked like they would stroll to victory, especially after dominating the first half behind the play of Craddock, a 6-foot-8 center, and guard Delvaughn Tinned. Craddock scored 10 in the first quarter and Tinned nailed three 3-pointers in the second quarter, one of which came at the buzzer to give Mariner a 34-21 halftime lead.
“This is an outrageous victory for us,” Burns said. “I don’t think I have ever had this much pressure on me. But I just remembered to keep my technique.”
“All we wanted was a chance to play tomorrow,” Craddock said. “And now we got it. It was a great game and Wesley (Burns) was clutch. He’s been like that all season.”
Similar to their 15-point comeback Saturday in a victory over Oak Harbor, the Tommies began their methodical, unlikely rally with an 11-2 run midway through the third quarter. Jared Stohl, who led all scorers with 26 points, triggered the run with the first of three consecutive 3-pointers with 4:58 remaining in the third quarter.
Stohl’s hot shooting was followed by a timely 3-pointer by teammate Keaton Taitingfong with 2:17 remaining that brought Marysville to within two points at 41-39.
Stohl finished with five 3-pointers and Taitingfong scored 20 points for the Tommies.
Mariner opened the fourth quarter with six straight points, four coming from the physical play of Aaron Cartwright. But after building their lead back to 12, the Marauders witnessed another Tommies’ comeback. Marysville went on a 15-5 spurt, as Stohl scored seven points during the run to pull the Tommies to within a point with less than a minute remaining.
The momentum changed one last time, at the free-throw line. This time the run – and the game – belonged to Burns and the Marauders.
M-P -Stewart 6, Stohl 26, Taitingfong 20, Enick 7, Jazmin 6, Gallaher 4. Mariner-Tinned 19, Cartwright 14, Burns 12, Jero. Grant 5, Craddock 20, Hamilton 2. 3-point goals-Tinned 5, Burns 1, Stohl 5, Taitingfong 1. Records-Marysville-Pilchuck – 8-14. Mariner 13-8. |
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