MILL CREEK — For the past decade, Stanwood and Jackson have been two of the top basketball teams in the area.
Both teams have won league and district titles and ended their seasons in the Tacoma Dome.
The Spartans and Timberwolves met up Tuesday night in a non-conference game for the second consecutive season. This year’s matchup was much closer, with Stanwood topping Jackson 61-56 at Jackson High School.
“I think that’s probably two of the best programs in the county in the past 10 years, I would say,” Stanwood head coach Zach Ward said. “It’s fun when we can get together and play. It’s obviously different players over the course of the 10 years, but it’s the same programs, same coaches. It’s been great.”
Once again, Stanwood got the better of the Timberwolves. After defeating Jackson 78-55 a season ago, the Spartans had to come from behind this time around.
Austin Wilhonen came off the bench and scored back-to-back baskets in an 8-0 run to help the Spartans tie Jackson with 1:28 to go in the third quarter, after Stanwood trailed most of the second and third periods.
Wilhonen had six points and four rebounds in the quarter as the Spartans, who trailed 31-25 at halftime, captured the lead. The junior post finished with eight points and six rebounds in the contest.
Stanwood senior Isaac Olson also had a big game off the bench to help the Spartans keep pace with Jackson in the first half. With several players in foul trouble, Olson scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds for Stanwood, and finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds to record the double-double.
“We battled foul trouble in the first half and some guys had to sit,” Ward said. “We also had some guys step up. Isaac Olson was huge in a role that we needed to stop the bleeding and he came in and carried the scoring load for us. That’s what kind of kept us in it. We knew if we kept it close we could have some success in the second half.”
In the second half, Olson, Wilhonen, Nate Kummer and others continued to help Stanwood battle back.
“They’re super energy. Those are our energy guys,” Ward said. “(Olson), Austin, Nate and if we can bring them in and they have that kind of energy it’s hard for teams to keep up with. We hope.”
The teams battled to a 14-14 tie at the end of the first quarter and Jackson took the slight advantage into halftime. Colton Faddis had a big game for the Timberwolves with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Brian Brown had a game-high 17 points for Jackson and senior Sam Saufferer finished with 15 points.
Saufferer, who was a focus for the Stanwood defense, got more than half of his points from the free-throw line.
“I thought we did a great job on him,” Ward said. “Really contesting everything that he had. He had no open looks. He got to the hole on a couple of drives but I thought our guys did a heck of a job defending him and forcing other guys to make plays. And some of them did, that’s why they had the lead. But that’s why it’s a 32-minute game and not a 16-minute game.”
The physical game got a little chippy in the final quarter, with a player on each team earning a technical foul on one play and an intentional foul by Jackson late sparking a bit more chatter between the two teams.
But in the end, Stanwood improved to 3-1 as it gets ready to host a tough Mercer Island team Friday night.
“It’s one game and we learned some stuff tonight,” Ward said. “It’s a preseason game. We learned some stuff tonight that we needed to get handled. And we have our hands full Friday night with Mercer Island coming to our house. They’re a very good team. We’ll see where we’re at.”
The loss sends Jackson to an 0-2 record to start the season for the second consecutive year. Last season, things worked out all right for the Timberwolves, who won a 4A District 1 championship, made it to the regional round of the state tournament and finished 17-6.
At Jackson H.S.
Stanwood 14 11 16 20 —61
Jackson 14 17 8 17 —56
Stanwood—AJ Martinka 15, Bryson Kelley 0, Cameron Plautz 7, Chase Strieby 6, Carlton McDonald 0, Quinton Borseth 8, Isaac Olson 12, Austin Wilhonen 8, Nate Kummer 5, Trygve DeBoer 0. Jackson—Brian Brown 17, Parker Manalo 4, Ian Willgress 0, Brock Peterson 0, Jordan Brajcich 2, Connor Marschall 1, Avery Goodwin 0, Hunter Johnson 0, Sam Saufferer 15, Colton Faddis 12, Islim Ouldtaki 5. Records—Stanwood 3-1 overall. Jackson 0-2.
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