TACOMA – The heartache of a quick exit from the 4A state tournament comes with a soothing dose of optimism for most members of the Mountlake Terrace boys basketball team.
Just don’t offer a spoonful of future hopes to Sam Stapleton or Michael Aquillano.
Mountlake Terrace’s only two seniors took Thursday’s 58-49 loss to Central Kitsap hard because it meant the end of their high school careers.
“It’s definitely sad,” Stapleton said. “I had an injury earlier this year that cost me half the season, so there’s some regret there. But I can still look back and say that I made it. I worked hard and made some impact on this program.”
Stapleton and Aquillano won’t be remembered for their offensive firepower. The two players did not score a single point in Mountlake Terrace’s two state tournament games and combined to average 2.0 points per game during the regular season.
Their importance comes more in what they represent about next season.
With eight of its 10 roster players – not to mention 94 percent of the offense – expected to return in 2004-05, Mountlake Terrace should be considered a likely participant in the state tournament a year from now.
“It’s kind of hard to think about next year right now, but we see what we need to do,” said Leigh Swanson, a 6-foot-7 junior. “Starting Monday, I’m going to be working already. We’re going to be ready for next year. We’ve got something to prove.”
Mountlake Terrace’s problems in both games of the 2004 tournament seemed to stem from its youth. Just like they did Wednesday afternoon, the Hawks fell in a deep hole during the first half and had to try to fight back Thursday.
Once again, Mountlake Terrace made a furious rally that came up short.
“We keep telling ourselves we have to come out strong,” Swanson said. “I don’t know what’s going on, but for whatever reason we don’t stick with the plan.”
The Hawks got off to a decent start before a 9-0 Central Kitsap run left them behind 16-7 late in the first quarter.
Central Kitsap (19-7) opened the second quarter with an 11-2 spurt to go ahead 27-11. Mountlake Terrace fought to keep the deficit within reach, but a pair of missed, wide open lay-ups in the final 1:08 of the first half reflected just how tough an offensive day it was.
The Hawks scored just one field goal in the entire second quarter and were shooting 17 percent (4 of 24) from the field in the first half. Central Kitsap’s 31-19 halftime lead seemed insurmountable barring the possibility of Shaquille O’Neal taking the floor in a Mountlake Terrace jersey during the third quarter.
“For whatever reason, we just could not get in a rhythm down here,” coach Nalin Sood said. “We did not shoot the basketball very well.”
Whatever Sood preached at halftime seemed to work, as the Hawks opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run to pull within 31-29. They forced seven turnovers during that five-minute span to help shake out of their offensive funk.
Central Kitsap’s lead got back to 40-32 early in the fourth quarter, but Terrace’s Adrian Blake hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the same spot on the floor to spark another run. Swanson added a pair of free throws to get within 43-42 with 4:43 remaining.
Central Kitsap’s Neil Fryer, who sat down after collecting his fourth foul early in the third quarter, hit a pair of field goals to jump-start the Cougars toward a 15-7 advantage down the stretch.
“When you measure a basketball team, you measure their character,” Sood said. “And this team, just about when people were ready to turn the machine off, you found out they still had a pulse. That’s something you can feel good about.”
Swanson led Mountlake Terrace (20-6) with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Blake added 11. Fryer had 14 points for Central Kitsap, with teammate Brice Brooks scoring 13.
But the day belonged to a couple of players who combined for no points and one rebound.
Shortly after the loss, Stapleton and Arquillano sat together pondering a pair of unlikely high school careers.
“We made it,” said Arquillano, who nearly quit the team prior to his junior year. “We made it where we wanted to go. It was all worth it, except we had two disappointing games (at state).
“Actually, it was more like two disappointing halves.”
Sood was more surprised than anyone that the unlikely duo made it to their senior seasons.
“I didn’t think a plug nickel about them when they were freshmen,” the coach admitted. “I didn’t think they were good enough, and they only got there because of work ethic.
“If a young kid ever wanted to model his game after someone, it should be after Sam Stapleton and Michael Arquillano, two kids that worked unbelievably hard. That’s the hard part (of being a coach), saying good-bye to kids like that.”
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