EVERETT — Snohomish didn’t exactly cover every inch of Everett’s side of the court Wednesday night.
It just seemed like it.
The Panthers took their long bodies and physical tenacity, combined them with a zone defense, and methodically downed Everett 72-39 in a boys basketball rout at Everett High School.
Snohomish was so stingy, it allowed just 12 field goals on the night.
“We did a good job of making it tough on them,” Panthers head coach Len Bone said. “We’ve been trying to make better decisions defensively over the course of a full game and we did a good job at that tonight. We were alert and didn’t give them a lot of open shots.”
In fact, Snohomish rarely even gave up a passing lane.
The tone of the contest became evident right away, as Everett turned the ball over on four of its first five possessions. Panthers senior forward Zach Wilde – who led all scorers with 16 points – got going right away too, scoring six of his team’s first eight points.
Still, it was only a 17-15 Snohomish lead early in the second period when the Panthers finally came up with a crippling run that helped them increase their lead to double digits for good. Everett had six turnovers through a scoreless drought that lasted nearly five minutes. By the end of it, Snohomish had scored 13 straight and led 30-15.
It was 37-20 at the break.
“Our emphasis has been on defense lately,” said Wilde, who also corralled six rebounds. “We can score. We have a lot of guys who can score. We’ve just been needing to play great defense and rebound defensively to get stops.”
The Panthers went with a constantly-changing zone defense all but the final minute of the first half. With a front line that stands 6-6, 6-6, 6-4 and 6-4 – not including 6-8 Brad Jeffries off the bench – the packed-in defense was simply too much for the Seagulls. Everett turned the ball over 13 times and shot just 35 percent in the first half.
Snohomish switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half, and continued to cruise.
“It’s fun playing that zone,” said Wilde, who played at the top of the key on defense. “Playing a zone is tougher than a man because you have to have good guys behind you, guys you can trust. But the zone has been a strong point for us.”
The Panthers scored the first five points of the second half and led 54-28 going into the fourth period. Every player on the team – which was down to just nine in the second half, thanks to an injury to Jeffries – managed to score. Clayton Johnson, Nick Klop and Brad Shaw followed Wilde’s 16 points with 12, 11 and 10, respectively.
“We’ve got good depth. All of our guys can play,” Bone said. “We’re down to nine healthy bodies right now, but we’ll be okay.”
At Everett H.S.
Snohomish15221719—72
Everett119811—39
Snohomish—Wilde 16, Johnson 12, Klop 11, Shaw 10, McGee 8, Low 5, McGinnis 4, Jeffires 2, Cummins 2, Leahy 2. Everett—Jones 12, Mattson 11, Hennings 4, Homer 3, Brown 3, Murray 2, Gunnerson 2, Frauenholtz 2. 3-point field goals—Wilde 2, Klop 1, Shaw 1, Homer 1. Records—Snohomish 6-2 overall, 4-0 league. Everett 3-6, 3-3.
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