EVERETT – Revenge isn’t always pretty, but it’s usually sweet.
Mariner knocked off its rival from across the freeway, 46-43, Friday night at Mariner High School in a Western Conference North Division boys basketball contest.
“We had revenge on our minds tonight,” said Aaron Cartwright, who contributed team highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead Jackson’s demise. “They knocked us out of the (district) playoffs last year. We had payback on our minds, so we had to come out physical and aggressive.”
The Marauders scrounged their way to their fifth-straight victory, improving to 4-1 in the division and 5-2 overall. Mariner did not trail after the midway point of the first quarter and survived a last-second, 3-point shot from Johnie Kirton that bounced off the outside of the rim.
“It was really a nice game to watch from a fan standpoint,” Mariner coach Dexter Griffen said. “We didn’t play particularly well the whole game due to Jackson being such a good team and a scrappy team.”
Speaking of scrappy, Mariner found a way to contend with the taller Timberwolves. Three of the seven Marauders who played Friday are 5 feet, 10 inches or shorter, including 5-foot-6 Jerod Grant and 5-foot-7 Wesley Burns. Jackson answered with five players 6 feet, 1 inch or taller. Forward Corey Hall contributed half of Jackson’s points (23) along with 13 rebounds while sometimes being guarded by Marauders who were nearly a foot shorter than his 6-foot-6 frame. Jackson used its size for a modest 32-27 edge in rebounds.
Mariner made up for its lack of length mostly with the heart of the 6-foot-1 Cartwright, who was saddled with the job of guarding the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Kirton. He held Kirton – the state’s Class 4A football player of the year – to six points and four rebounds.
“I was really proud of Aaron Cartwright,” Griffen said. “He really saved our bacon. He had six offensive rebounds, was our leading scorer and just dominated.”
Mariner led virtually the entire game, but never by more than eight points. The Timberwolves (2-3, 4-3) trailed 33-26 after Jerrel Grant’s 3-point basket with 3:56 remaining in the third quarter. Jackson used an 8-2 run to close the gap to one point at the end of the third.
Mariner threatened to pull away again, scoring five points to take a 40-34 lead, but Jackson came right back to pull within two points.
Burns gave Jackson a 43-38 lead with his second 3-point basket of the game.
Cedric Collins’ layup with 41 seconds remaining cut Mariner’s lead to 46-43. Mariner turned the ball over five seconds later, but the Timberwolves lost the ball in the paint.
After Mariner came up empty on a one-and-one free throw opportunity, Jackson got one last shot. The Timberwolves called a timeout with three seconds remaining. David Musgrave found Kirton, who got off a clean, desperation heave from the baseline. The ball caromed off the backside of the rim as time expired.
Hall kept the Timberwolves afloat in the first half by scoring 14 of his team’s 18 points. Tinned and Cartwright each scored eight in the half for the Marauders. Mariner outscored Jackson 7-2 to take a 23-18 halftime lead. Tinned attempted all five of Mariner’s first-half free throws, making four. Hall made three of the five free throws attempted by Jackson in the game.
| Jackson |
10 |
8 |
16 |
9 |
– |
43 |
| Mariner |
12 |
11 |
12 |
11 |
– |
46 |
Jackson-Eisinger 6, Collins 8, Hall 23, Kirton 6. Mariner-Tinned 11, Cartwright 14, Burns 7, Jerod Grant 2, Jerrel Grant 4, Craddock 8. 3-point goals-Hall 2, Burns 2, Jerrel Grant 1. JV-Jackson beat Mariner. Records-Jackson 2-3 in division, 4-3 overall. Mariner 4-1, 5-2.
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