SNOHOMISH — The Snohomish boys basketball team had a plan going into its Wesco 4A contest against Mariner Friday night.
Feed the ball to 6-foot-9 post Collin Kane.
Kane scored 35 points — and added six rebounds — for Snohomish, which built a big early lead and hung on against a charging Mariner team 59-55 at Snohomish High School.
“That’s definitely tough. He creates a little bit of a mismatch for us,” said Mariner head coach Eric Ensign. “I didn’t realize he had that many but yeah, he’s tough. He’s a really good player.”
The Panthers worked to get the ball into Kane — who had 13 points in Snohomish’s 18-6 second-quarter run. Kane and the Panthers had a 14-point halftime lead and led by as many as 15 in the contest.
“We felt like we had a good matchup inside,” said Snohomish head coach Len Bone. “The guys did a great job getting him the ball. The first half, especially, he got baskets but it was on some nice feeds from teammates.”
In the second half, Mariner made its move. The Marauders used a full-court defense to force turnovers by Snohomish. Mariner got to as close as two points, down 54-52 with 1:09 left.
“Mariner just kept coming at us,” Bone said. “They fought back from being down double-digits at half. We were much better than them in the first half and they were much better than us in the second. … Their trapping caused some problems for us.”
With 36 seconds to play, Snohomish went back to its big post to put the game away. Kane got a basket and drew a foul — near the end of the shot clock — to give the Panthers a 57-52 advantage and all but put the game away.
“That play where Zak Carlson made a great pass to Collin and right at the end of the shot clock and he finishes it and gets fouled — that was a nice play by both of those guys,” Bone said.
Carlson scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds and Kobe McDaniel added eight points for Snohomish (2-1 league, 2-4 overall), which has won two of its past three games after losing its first three to start the season.
“You want to win at home,” Bone said. “We’re going to have to go to Mariner and that’s going to be to their advantage. If you can win the majority of your games at home and get a couple on the road then you’re probably in the mix in the top three or four teams. We’re hoping we’ll be in the top three or four.”
It was the second consecutive league loss for Mariner (1-2, 4-3), which struggled to get things going in the first half. The Marauders outscored Snohomish 34-24 in the second half but couldn’t overcome the early deficit.
“I thought we came out really flat in the first half,” Ensign said. “I think they started to put the effort in that I’m used to them putting in. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. … We have not been able to put together four good quarters all year. We play really well for a half. Even in our wins we haven’t been able to play well for four quarters.”
Senior wing Erwin Dzeko helped spearhead Mariner’s late comeback with a team-high 24 points — 17 of which came in the second half — and five rebounds. Dzeko helped the Marauders establish a low-post presence of their own as Mariner continued to chip away at Snohomish’s lead.
“It was good to see him play well tonight,” Ensign said. “He’s a really good shooter and was in a little bit of a slump so it was really good to see him have a good night.”
Ryan Mendoza and Kevin Villalobos scored eight points apiece and Greg Whitaker added four points and 11 rebounds for Mariner.
At Snohomish H.S.
Mariner1561816—55
Snohomish17181212—59
Mariner—Jeremiah Bell 2, Ryan Mendoza 8, Greg Whitaker 4, Kevin Villalobos 8, Ravinder Athwal 2, Jalen Hayes 7, Tim Angelos 0, Erwin Dzeko 24. Snohomish—Zak Carlson 9, Will Layton 0, Mitch Morris 4, Kobe McDaniel 8, Gus Baxter 3, Kole Bride 0, Andrew Kane 0, Jake Perry 0, Collin Kane 35. 3-point goals—Mendoza 2, Hayes 1, Dzeko 1, McDaniel 2, Baxter 1, C. Kane 1. Records—Mariner 1-2 league, 4-3 overall. Snohomish 2-1, 2-4.
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