MONROE — The Monroe boys basketball team needed a win Tuesday night to continue its season.
And with a 15-point halftime deficit, things weren’t looking great for the Bearcats.
But led by sophomore Colby Kyle, Monroe came roaring back. The Bearcats got 24 points from Kyle and outscored Snohomish 35-15 in the second half on their way to a 50-45 Wesco 4A victory at Monroe High School.
The Bearcats’ victory, coupled with Mount Vernon’s 63-50 loss to Lake Stevens, clinched a spot in Thursday’s 4A District 1 tournament for Monroe. The Bearcats will play at Jackson on Thursday in their district opener.
“We had a fiery halftime. We did not want the season to end like that,” said Monroe head coach Tyson Horner. “I think the guys responded really well. … All year long we felt like we’ve been really close in a ton of games. We’ve been calling the last five games of our season, ‘the playoffs,’ to these guys and they’ve really bought into that.
“They knew they had to get it done tonight and thankfully they did.”
Kyle was a force in the second half, scoring 13 of his 24 points in the final two quarters to tie his season-high for points in a game. The 6-foot-7 Kyle, who also grabbed 18 rebounds in the game, scored on an assist from Isaiah Cole to tie the score at 43 with 1:34 remaining.
“Colby Kyle was sure good inside,” Horner said. “I think he really wanted it tonight. He established himself inside. Tonight, he really knew that we needed him inside and it felt like he did a great job of controlling the paint.”
After Kyle tied it, Monroe junior Trenton Newhouse took over. Newhouse, who was questionable to even play the game after dealing with back spasms, made a 3-pointer in the corner with 23.8 seconds remaining to give the Bearcats their first lead of the game, 46-45.
Newhouse added four free throws in the game’s closing seconds, to account for Monroe’s final seven points in the contest. The 6-foot-1 captain finished with 14 points in the game.
“We weren’t expecting Trenton Newhouse to even play tonight and for him to come out and fight through his back pain was a heck of a job,” Horner said “In warmups he felt good so we tried to give him some time and sure enough he was OK.
“We’re definitely thankful.”
Snohomish (3-11 league, 6-14 overall) built a 30-15 halftime lead thanks in large part to senior Jacob Shogren, who outscored the whole Monroe team in the first half with 20 points.
“He’s had a good season and played hard and hit big shots for us throughout the year,” said Snohomish head coach Len Bone. “It would’ve been good to have one more (game) but he hit some big ones.”
But the Bearcats’ defense clamped down on Shogren in the second half, limiting him to two points the rest of the way. Monroe (4-10, 6-14) outscored Snohomish 16-4 in the third quarter to seize momentum heading into the final period.
“I think it probably starts to snowball,” Bone said. “You want to try to be really good the first few possessions in the second half and I think we had two turnovers in the first three possessions. That’s a little bit of a sign that you’re maybe not as clean and solid as you should be. That’s kind of how we were in the second half: not very clean.
“It’s sad. We were hoping to play on Thursday. We didn’t get it done. Monroe did.”
Like Monroe, Snohomish could’ve clinched a district berth with a victory Tuesday night. Both teams came in with matching 3-10 league records and battling for the sixth and final spot to the district tournament.
“I thought they executed better than we did,” Bone said. “They got better shots than we did. They got the ball into the big kid inside. He was really efficient. They just outplayed us. Some of that’s them and some of that’s us.”
It was the second close matchup of the year between the two teams. Snohomish edged Monroe 62-56 on Jan. 15.
“Coach Bone’s always got his team ready to go. They’re always tough,” Horner said. “They get after the glass and their defense is tough. It always seems like a low-scoring game because his teams are so well-disciplined on defense. We knew coming in that it was probably going to be another close one. It seems like it always is with those guys.”
At Monroe H.S.
Snohomish 15 15 4 11 —45
Monroe 9 6 16 19 —50
Snohomish–Jacob Shogren 22, Kobe McDaniel 0, Mitch Morris 7, Peyton Plucker 0, Jake Perry 4, Kyle Sandifer 9, Kole Bride 0, Tristan MacGregor 3. Monroe–Isaiah Cole 4, Blake Bingham 0, Spencer Davidson 0, Trenton Newhouse 14, Justin Folz 6, Brian Pino 2, Dario Santana 0, Colby Kyle 24, Chandler Kovacevich 0, Joshua Jerome 0. Records–Snohomish 3-11 league, 6-14 overall. Monroe 4-10, 6-14.
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