Marysville Pilchuck boys roll to dominant win over Kelso (VIDEO)

EVERETT — When Luke Dobler finally checked out of the game with one minutes, 59 seconds remaining, Marysville Pilchuck head coach Bary Gould couldn’t help but smirk as the junior guard trotted back to the bench to shake hands and high five his teammates and coaches.

Dobler’s grandest performance of the season came at the perfect time.

The junior guard erupted for a career-high 33 points and made seven 3-pointers to lead No. 4 Marysville Pilchuck over No. 5 Kelso, 72-51, in a state regional matchup on Saturday at Everett Community College.

“We talk about it all the time that we’re not a one-hit wonder,” Gould said. “We’re not just a team based on RaeQuan (Battle), we have a bunch of pieces that have stepped up all year long. Rae(Quan) hasn’t played perfect basketball all year, but there are games that we end up on top because someone else has stepped up.”

Dobler was that player Saturday.

The Tomahawks assembled a 18-4 lead after the first quarter after Dobler went a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Marysville Pilchuck extended its lead to 40-22 at halftime, with Dobler’s 20 first-half points leading the way.

Dobler finished the game with a trio of 3-pointers in the final quarter, burying the Hilanders for good.

His impressive shooting display was no surprise to Gould.

“That’s the way that he shoots the basketball,” he said. “He’s struggled with some injuries this year and trading off at point guard, so he’s maybe not getting all the shots maybe in a game.

“But Luke is going to step up when Luke needs to step up. He’s really peaking right now and we’ve noticed that in practice that he’s ready to go.”

University of Washington signee and senior star wing Battle heated up in the second half for the Tomahawks, scoring eight points in the third quarter and four in the fourth.

Of his five second-half field goals, four came on thunderous dunks, either in transition or on putbacks, igniting the Tomahawks’ bench and crowd.

“RaeQuan does this every game. Every game he’s got dunks,” Dobler said. “He’s the best player on this team and he’s a star. Some days he’s off, we got a supporting cast to lift us up, but his dunks energize the crowd and gives the bench energy.”

Overall Battle wasn’t his usual self, going 5-of-13 from the field and 0-for-6 from behind the arc.

Battle will undoubtedly need to play better for the Tomahawks to achieve their ultimate goal, a state championship. But Saturday’s performance proved that the Tomahawks have the horses behind him to compete with the best teams in the state.

“We’ve got depth,” Dobler said. “It’s not a one-man team and it’s going to take every guy on this roster to win. It’s bigger than one player.”

Marysville Pilchuck will have a chance to prove that to the entire state on Thursday. They’ll play a quarterfinal game at the Tacoma Dome at 3:30 p.m.

Thankfully, the Tomahawks are playing some of their best basketball of the season, blowing out Kelso by 21 points on Saturday a week after beating Arlington by 18 for the District 1 championship.

“I feel like we’re peaking at the right time,” Dobler said. “We’re doing a good job in practice. Everything is going right. We just need to rest our bodies so we can be at the top of our game.”

His coach didn’t disagree with that assessment.

“Oh for sure,” Gould said. “I don’t think there is any question about that.”