By Chris Trujillo
Herald Writer
MARYSVILLE – It was supposed to be a routine victory. It was supposed be inspiring.
It wasn’t.
But in the end, and after an enormous-sized scare, the Marysville-Pilchuck boys basketball team escaped its own home court with an exciting 70-69 overtime victory over Western Conference North Division foe Lake Stevens on Tuesday night.
Sophomore Marquis Pittman scored the winning basket after driving past his defender for a lay-in with 29 seconds remaining in overtime to secure the game for the Tomahawks. The victory clinched a district playoff berth for the Tommies, who improved to 9-6 in league and 10-9 overall. Marysville-Pilchuck will wrap up the season Friday on the road against Mount Vernon. Lake Stevens, which has lost 10 of its past 11 games, dropped to 3-12, and 4-15.
Pittman led M-P with 16 points and Charlie Soper followed with 13 points.
“Yeah, we got the berth, but I can’t say it was easy,” M-P coach Mike Lowery said. “I am so impressed with Lake Stevens. They just kept coming at us. They played very tough.”
After falling behind 65-61 in overtime, M-P pulled to within one point after Soper drained a 3-point basket with 1:47 remaining.
Six-foot-eight junior Chris Gill, after pulling down his ninth rebound, converted a perfect pass from Pittman to give M-P the lead, 68-67.
“We struggled all night long,” Lowery said. “But we filled it up down the stretch when we needed to.”
M-P grabbed the lead for just the second time in the game with 7 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after Mariel Crews made a pair of free throws.
The Tommies increased their lead with 2:48 in regulaton after Soper nailed one of his three 3-pointers
With time winding down, Lake Stevens’ Trevor Johnson, who scored eight of his 14 points in the final 1:30, tied the score at 60-60 with 24 seconds with his third 3-pointer of the fourth quarter.
Matthew Stevens scored 14 points and Blake Carbonatto finished with 10 points for Lake Stevens.
M-P went on a 10-4 run to end the third quarter. It carried its momentum into the early part of the fourth quarter by going on a 7-3 spurt to keep Lake Stevens within striking distance.
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Lake Stevens-Stevens 14, Conklin 7, Andrews 4, Haynes 5, Carbonatto 10, Miller 9, Thomason 5, Johnson 14. Marysville-Pilchuck-Pittman 16, Siekawitch 6, Hinderman 10, Fagan 3, Gill 7, Soper 13, Harris 6, Crews 6. 3-point goals-Stevens 3, Carbonatto 2, Haynes 1, Andrews 1, Johnson 3, Pittman 1, Soper 3. Records-Lake Stevens 3-12 in league, 4-15 overall. Marysville-Pilchuck 9-6, 10-9.
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