EVERETT — Isaiah Kiehl saw an opportunity, and he took it.
With the clock winding down in the first half between Monroe boys basketball and Everett at Norm Lowery Gymnasium on Friday, Monroe senior Caleb Campbell took a pass from senior Tate Hammerquist and flew through the paint to the basket to extend the Monroe lead to 32-16.
Everett set up to inbound the ball, looking to get one more basket with less than 30 seconds before the break, but Kiehl anticipated a weak pass. The Monroe junior grabbed possession and drew a foul as he turned the steal into a layup. Kiehl nailed the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play and put his team up 35-16 at the half.
“I was just noticing early in the game that they were throwing lazy passes,” Kiehl said. “I mean, (Campbell) got a bucket, so they were already hanging their heads, so I took the opportunity.”
The play captured the theme of the game, as the Bearcats (8-1, 2-0 league) continually scored points off turnover en route to a 77-47 win against the Seagulls (6-4, 2-2 league).
Kiehl scored 31 points and had five steals, deflecting the ball on several other occasions that led to steals for his teammates as well. As a whole, The Herald counted 19 steals for Monroe, which reflects the identity coach Justin Prohn wants his program to embody.
“Since we’ve come in on Day 1, our number one thing is defense,” Prohn said. “Like we just want to be really active on defense, and that’s something that makes us different a little bit. So we want our defense to be our best offense, if we can.”
Following a landmark season which included a District 1 3A Championship and a trip to the State Round of 12 in the Tacoma Dome last year, Monroe graduated several key seniors and also lost 2024-25 All-Area First Team selection Chayce Waite-Kellar, who moved to Bellingham and is playing at Lummi Nation in his senior season.
Despite the changes, the Bearcats have come out strong in 2025-26, juggling a deep rotation of scorers and impactful defenders. Prohn acknowledged the team can’t replace the rebounding and rim protection that Waite-Kellar brings to the table, among other things, but the blend of maturity and skill with this year’s group has allowed Prohn and his staff to operate in ways they haven’t been able to before.
For example, some practices require fewer on-court reps, and instead the team can spend more time discussing strategy.
“We’re able to talk a little bit more philosophy on things,” Prohn said. “The type of shots that we’re looking for. Talk about spacing things, you know, just little things that we feel like can be difference (and) give us a better advantage on some things. Sometimes it’s a little bit too much for high schoolers, but for this particular group, with the skill that they have and everything, it’s really good.”
Behind Kiehl, Campbell added 11 points, four rebounds and five steals of his own, while Hammerquist (seven points, four steals) and senior Dominic Castillo (eight points, three rebounds) combined for 15 points. After suffering their first loss of the season in a down-to-the-wire 53-51 defeat to Issaquah on Tuesday, the Bearcats got the response they wanted on Friday, pulling ahead by 19 at the half and never looking back.
“I think it’s really important to have a game like that early in the season,” Campbell said. “Because if you play 16, 17 games and you lose, it’s a feeling you’re not used to, and it’s good to get that out of the way early, so we know what to expect.”
Meanwhile for Everett, sophomore Henry Selders scored 30 of the Seagulls’ 47 points, pulling down six rebounds as well. The young Everett team — which has seven underclassmen compared to Monroe’s one — struggled with the absence of injured point guard Noah Owens.
“It’s about the worst game we’ve played in five years,” Seagulls coach Bobby Thompson said. “(…) I think it’s just execution against a really quality basketball team. I mean, that’s credit to (Monroe). They force you to do things you don’t have to do. We’re not a great shooting team yet, and so they kind of played to that, and we had a hard time adjusting. So we’ll get back to practice tomorrow. We’ll work on the things that they showed us, and it’s just, any young group is going to learn against really good teams, and that’s part of your growth.”
Monroe managed to pull ahead early when Campbell executed a post move with his back to the basket, spinning around to break a 4-4 tie with a layup around 2:30 into the game. Kiehl extended the lead to 8-4 with a stepback jumper, and Castillo stole the ball down low on the following Everett possession before sending it up to Kiehl, who drew three defenders under the basket before kicking it out to senior Wyatt Prohn for an open 3-pointer.
“We had to gain our confidence back,” Kiehl said. “I came into this game with a lot of confidence knowing we felt that feeling of a loss (against Issaquah on Tuesday). We don’t want to feel that again.”
After building a 17-10 lead in the first quarter, the Bearcats opened the second on a 9-0 run. Kiehl scored four points off a pair of steals, and Hammerquist set up Castillo for a 3-pointer before Castillo scored on a putback layup amid the scoring stretch. Selders stopped the bleeding by knocking down a 3, but the Seagulls struggled to hit their shots down the stretch.
The five-point sequence Campbell and Kiehl executed to end the half put the game all but out of reach for Everett at 35-16, but the Bearcats continued to defend hard and attack the boards through the second half. Kiehl opened the third quarter by rebounding his own shot and muscling his way back up to the rim to make it 37-16, and the Seagulls never got the game back within 20 points. It was a welcome sign for a Monroe team that has a tendency to let its foot off the gas after taking big leads, according to Campbell.
“That’s a good rebounding team. They’re physical. They got some big guys,” Campbell said about Everett. “I think that’s something that we really need to focus on going into league play, because these are some big games. If we can rebound like we did tonight, especially in the second half, I think we’ll be just fine.”
The two Wesco North 3A/2A foes will face each other again in exactly three weeks on Jan. 23, and Prohn expects a much tighter game in the rematch.
“I have so much respect for coach Bobby Thompson and Everett,” Prohn said. “Their program is a really good program, and I know the next game isn’t going to be what it was tonight. I know they’re going to come out and they’re going to be in really good shape, and they’re going to be ready for us.”
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