STANWOOD — Add another riveting chapter to what has become a storied boys basketball rivalry.
Despite trailing by double-digits on five separate occasions, the Stanwood Spartans battled back repeatedly and, finally, stunned the Snohomish Panthers with a 61-56 victory in overtime in a Western Conference North Division battle Friday night.
With the triumph Stanwood (9-6 in division, 10-9 overall) significantly buoyed its hopes of securing a berth in the Class 4A District 1 tournament later this month.
Snohomish (13-1, 15-3) suffered its first division setback despite leading for virtually the entire game.
“Our chances were slim and none,” Stanwood coach Zach Ward said of the comeback victory. “What a resilient bunch.”
“It’s special when you have seniors on Senior Night and they know it’s their last night playing on this floor,” Ward continued. “But, the effort from everybody was just unbelievable.”
The Panthers trailed 2-0 in the opening minutes, but quickly moved ahead, taking its first double-digit lead early in the second quarter. Snohomish had its final double-digit lead, 45-35, in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
But, as it had done on four previous occasions, Stanwood battled back, with key plays by seniors, including Mike Lawrence, Kyle Klempel and Peter Edlund to beat Snohomish at its own gym for the first time since December 18, 2003.
“It was loud and that gets you jazzed,” Klempel said. “Now, we’ve got to take care of business Tuesday (at Everett) or everything we worked for tonight won’t matter.”
“Snohomish is a great team that does things right,” Ward said. “We made shots when we needed to, it was nothing (Snohomish) did wrong.”
Ward added: “I told the kids if we get to 10-6 and that’s not good enough (to qualify for districts) you tip your hat to those guys who won 11 games.”
Lawrence, who led Stanwood with 18 points, had a put-back to key an 8-0 run that brought the Spartans to within 45-43 with just over four minutes to play.
“(Lawrence) has had some tough breaks this season but now he’s been the presence we’ve needed inside,” Ward marveled. “Around the basket he’s crafty and it’s hard to block his shots.”
Snohomish had a 50-45 advantage on a basket by Brad Low (14 points) off an assist from Clayton Johnson, who led the Panthers with 18 points.
Clayton Johnson fouled out with 1:50 to play and sent Stanwood’s Zach Johnson to the line with a one-and-one opportunity.
Zach Johnson (13 points) converted both ends to cut the gap to three points.
With 45 seconds remaining, Klempel bobbled a pass from Kale Schmidt — who had earlier erased a 10-point deficit in the second quarter with a trio of 3-pointers in a span of 72 seconds — but, Klempel (six points, four rebounds) gathered the ball and drained a shot from the left corner that tied the score at 50-50.
“I kind of fumbled it,” Klempel said. “But, when I shot the ball I knew it was going in.”
Snohomish had two shots in the waning seconds, but could not convert and the contest went into overtime.
A jump shot in the lane by Nick Klop (10 points, including all six Snohomish points in overtime) gave the Panthers a 52-50 lead.
An underhand scoop in the lane by Lawrence knotted the score. Then, after a mid-court steal by Edlund (eight points) Stanwood took its first lead since the opening minutes when Lawrence hit Zach Johnson with a bounce pass that led to a lay-in and a 54-52 advantage.
The Panthers tied the score on a basket by Klop, but the Spartans re-took the lead when Edlund dribble left to right and fearlessly glanced in a shot in the lane with 1:20 remaining in the overtime.
“That’s just a kid who did not want his season to end,” Ward said of Edlund.
After a Panthers turnover, Schmidt (who scored 15 points and keyed the defense that limited Snohomish top-scorer Zach Wilde to eight points) knocked down a pull-up jump shot with 52 seconds to play to provide the Spartans with a 58-54 lead.
Schmidt added a pair of free throws with 8.2 seconds remaining that accounted for the final score and essentially clinched the victory.
At Stanwood H.S.
Snohomish8181686—56
Stanwood420111511—61
Snohomish — Low 14, C. Johnson 18, Klop 10, Wilde 8, McGinnis 4, McGee 2, Cummins, Caudill. Stanwood — Klempel 6, Schmidt 15, Orcutt 1, Edlund 6, Zipp 2, Z. Johnson 13, Lawrence 18, Williams, Zweber. 3-point goals — C. Johnson 1, McGinnis 1, Klempel 1, Schmidt 3. J.V. score — Stanwood 61, Snohomish 55. Records — Snohomish 13-1 in division, 15-3 overall. Stanwood 9-6, 10-9.
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