Snohomish eliminates Mariner

MILL CREEK — For one quarter the Snohomish High School boys basketball team sat back and watched helplessly as the Mariner Marauders hit a series of long-range shots.

But the Panthers decided to turn that weapon in the opposite direction, and it was the Marauders who ended up ruing the 3-point line.

Snohomish drained 12 3-pointers, and the Panthers kept their season alive by defeating the Marauders 69-68 Tuesday night in a Class 4A Northwest District loser-out game at Jackson High School.

Reserve Jake Hammons went 6-for-7 from 3-point range, including a tiebreaking trey with just over two minutes remaining in the game, and Darrel Martin added five 3s for Snohomish (16-7), the No. 2 seed from the Western Conference 4A North Division, which plays Edmonds-Woodway at 6 p.m. Friday at Jackson in another loser-out contest. As a team, the Panthers were 12-for-22 from long range.

"I don’t know if (shooting 3-pointers) is our game plan, but we know we have a big guy (Jon Brockman) in there that people have to defend, therefore we’re going to get some good looks," Snohomish coach Len Bone said. "But this wasn’t normal. It was exciting to see some guys step up big time."

No one stepped up more than Hammons. The 5-foot-10 junior guard single-handedly brought Snohomish back into the game in the second quarter after Mariner jumped out to an early lead.

Thanks to the long-range marksmanship of Delvaugh Tinned, who made three of his seven 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 27 points, Mariner (14-10), the No. 4 seed from the Wesco South, led 24-13. But Hammons went 5-for-6 from 3-point range in the second quarter as the Panthers cut the lead to 37-33 at halftime.

"I just kept smiling after every one," said Hammons, who hadn’t had a shooting performance like that in his varsity career. "I just kept throwing them up and they kept going in."

In the third quarter it was Martin’s turn. The 6-foot-3 senior forward sank three 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the half as Snohomish quickly took control, building a 10-point lead.

"Usually we play ugly defensive battles," Mariner coach Dexter Griffen said. "But we made a couple of defensive mistakes and they capitalized. They got hot and had a couple of guys step up and hit some big shots."

However, Mariner refused to give in. The Marauders ended the third quarter with an 11-point run, capped off by Raymond Fry’s 3-pointer with two seconds remaining, to regain the lead at 52-51.

The game remained neck-and-neck until Hammons hit his final 3-pointer with about 2:20 remaining to make the score 64-61, a lead the Panthers would not relinquish.

After Hammons made one of two free throws with 10.1 seconds remaining to give Snohomish a 69-66 lead, Mariner had one last chance to tie the score. Tinned’s 3-point attempt rimmed off, and although Aaron Cartwright scored on the rebound, the clock ran out before Snohomish had to inbound the ball.

"We were hoping, we had a good look, the play was there," Griffen said about Tinned’s final shot. "We just missed it."

Brockman added 26 points and 11 rebounds for Snohomish. Hammons finished with 19 points and Martin finished with 15.

For Mariner, Tommy Craddock finished with 18 points, Cartwright had 15 points and eight rebounds and Jerod Grant handed out eight assists.

At Mill Creek Mariner 24 13 15 16 — 68 Snohomish 13 20 18 18 — 69 Mariner: Cartwright 15, Craddock 18, Tinned 27, Fry 8. Snohomish: Martin 15, Heater 2, Brockman 26, Lorenzen 5, Siegel 2, Hammons 19. 3-point goals: Tinned 7, Fry 2, Hammons 6, Martin 5, Lorenzen. Records: Mariner 14-10, Snohomish 16-7.

Edmonds-Woodway 52, Stanwood 41: The Warriors scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed in the Class 4A Northwest District loser-out contest.

Edmonds-Woodway (16-7), the No. 2 seed from the Wesco South, advanced to face Snohomish in a loser-out game at 6 p.m. Friday at Jackson High School. Stanwood, the No. 4 seed from the Wesco North, finished 11-12.

The Edmonds-Woodway defense, led by Jason Hopkins’ five blocked shots, stifled Stanwood’s offense. The Spartans finished with 12 field goals and went 1-for-13 from 3-point range, that one coming with 40 seconds remaining in the game.

Hopkins and Josh Griffin each scored 11 points to lead the Warriors. Daes Kaufman scored 16 points to pace Stanwood.

At Mill Creek Stanwood 5 17 6 13 — 41 Edmonds-Woodway 16 9 14 13 — 52 Stanwood: Abrams 1, Sains 4, Boehme 2, Aufai 7, Boser 3, Fure 2, Welk 2, Kaufman 16, Hinderman 2, MaCutchen 2. Edmonds-Woodway: Thoms 6, Tucker 4, Conti 9, Griffin 11, Moss 2, Schaefer 2, Williams 3, Hopkins 11, Lester 4. 3-point goals: Kaufman. Records: Stanwood 11-12, Edmonds-Woodway 16-7.