ARLINGTON — Two losses last week put the championship hopes in doubt for the Stanwood boys basketball team.
But in a season of ups and downs, the Spartans finished on the upswing with four consecutive victories including a 64-57 decision over Arlington on Friday night. The win clinches the No. 1 seed from the Western Conference North for Stanwood heading into the upcoming District 1 tournament.
By beating Arlington, Stanwood improved its season record to 13-7 and its league mark to 11-4. Snohomish, which defeated Lake Stevens 70-66 Friday, is also 11-4 to earn a share of the Wesco North title, but the Spartans won the tiebreaker for the top district seed.
After close losses last week to Lake Stevens and Kamiak, Stanwood was looking to finish its regular season with a flourish. And the Spartans did just that, defeating Monroe, Marysville-Pilchuck, Snohomish and Arlington in the space of eight days.
Despite last week’s two losses, “we were able to bounce back and win four in a row, and that says a lot about us,” said senior wing Brennan Williams, who led Stanwood with 14 points, one of four Spartans to score in double figures.
“Arlington played well,” he said. “I knew they were going to come out for blood, but we matched them.”
Friday’s game was a back-and-forth tussle before a large, noisy crowd in the Arlington gym. The Eagles trailed for all but a few moments of the first half, but then scored eight quick points to open the third period for a 31-27 lead.
The Spartans countered with 14 unanswered points over the next four minutes to surge to a 41-31 margin. At which point Arlington used a 13-2 run of its own to regain the lead. The Eagles still led 46-45 after the two teams traded baskets.
But from there the game swung to Stanwood. Arlington went cold from the field — the Eagles went more than five minutes without scoring — and by then the Spartans were on top to stay.
Arlington kept hope alive with three 3-point goals in the last 90 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to counter a Stanwood parade to the free-throw line. The Spartans had 17 chances at the stripe in the final 2:13 of the fourth quarter and converted 13.
For the game Stanwood was 27-for-34 at the line. Arlington was 4-for-7.
“They did a better job of getting to the (foul) line than we did,” said Arlington coach Nick Brown, whose team ended its season with a 10-10 record, including a 7-8 league mark. The Eagles needed to win to reach the district playoffs.
“We’re .500, so we’ve had more successful seasons, but the character of this group is just awesome,” said Brown with obvious emotion. “You see this (he pointed to his welling eyes) because of how good these kids are. I’m just so proud of them.
“We had a rough road this year,” he added. “We didn’t play as well as we wanted to play. But if you saw us play in the last week and a half, you’d say these kids were playing with passion. The problem is, we dug ourselves a hole (in the league standings).”
Stanwood, meanwhile, has the momentum of a four-game winning streak to take into the district tournament. But at times this season the Spartans have had to overcome adversity of their own.
Back in late December, Stanwood lost to Meadowdale and fell to 5-4. And at that point, Williams said, “We just sat down and talked it out. It was like, ‘This is not how it’s supposed to be going. Let’s figure this out.’ And we just made a run after that.”
And despite the two defeats last week, “we’re just playing well right now,” he said.
At Arlington H.S.
Stanwood13121821—64
Arlington7161519—57
Stanwood—M. Garcea 9, Thayer 12, Roberson 13, Stang 12, Zipp 2, B. Garcea 0, Swenson 0, Williams 14, Sears 2. Arlington—M. Bryson 9, Dawn 9, Goheen 3, Elgarico 0, K. Bryson 0, Smith 0, Passalacqua 5, Davis 11, Bradey Brummel 3, Bo Brummel 2, Jones 2, Boyden 13. 3-point goals—Williams 1, M. Bryson 3, Dawn 2, Goheen 1, Passalacqua 1, Davis 3, Bradey Brummel 1. Records—Stanwood 11-4 in league, 13-7 overall. Arlington 7-8, 10-10.
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