Visiting his home away from home

It doesn’t take a genius to grasp Randall Edens’ mission. The shirt says it all: “I’m working on becoming a VIKING!”

Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald

In his first season as the Lake Stevens girls basketball coach, Randall Edens has led the Vikings to a 14-1 overall record.

So far, he has fit in just fine.

Edens, the first-year head coach of the Lake Stevens girls basketball team, has enjoyed remarkable success. After inheriting from previous coach Tom Tri a Vikings squad loaded with quick, physical athletes, Edens skillfully molded Lake Stevens into a first-place, state-ranked force.

Led by players like Mary Ochiltree (13.5 points per game), Kristina Schumacher (11.9) and Courtney Fisher (9.4), Edens’ deep, balanced group has rocketed to an 11-0 record in the Western Conference North Division, 14-1 overall. Outscoring opponents by an average of nearly 22 points per game, Lake Stevens would be undefeated if not for a 57-56 season-opening loss at Ferndale.

Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald

In his first season as the Lake Stevens girls basketball coach, Randall Edens has led the Vikings to a 14-1 overall record.

A 1994 Marysville-Pilchuck graduate, Edens coached M-P’s freshmen girls team for three seasons before spending two years as an assistant with the Burlington-Edison boys. He savors every moment of his newest gig, his first as a head hoops coach.

“He does a really good job of using his players to their strengths,” said Schumacher, a point guard and one of three Lake Stevens seniors. ” … He knows his players’ skills, but also personally. We respect him for that.”

Coaching is “something that I love to do and I had really been looking forward to this opportunity,” said Edens, who often stays up until 1 or 2 a.m. analyzing game film. “I’m just glad that Lake Stevens gave me a chance – it’s worked out well so far.”

It sure has. Lake Stevens is off to its best start since the mid-1980s, when longtime coach Steve Berg guided the Vikings to two 20-0 showings (‘84-‘85 and ‘86-‘87). With just five regular-season games to go, Lake Stevens is closing in on a division championship and a Class 4A District 1 tournament berth.

But the Vikings face a major challenge – and a slew of intriguing connections – Wednesday when they travel to play the surging M-P Tomahawks (7-4, 10-5). Edens, who still teaches at M-P, coached many current Tomahawks seniors – including Amanda Dunbar, Sarah Gribler, Katrina Clevish and Chelsea Bradley – when they were freshmen and he sees most of them in the halls every day.

“It’s fun. We kind of naturally rib each other and joke around,” Edens said.

“It’s kind of just a big joke,” Bradley said.

But when the game starts Wednesday night, silliness will vanish. M-P pushed Lake Stevens to the limit Dec. 16 when Edens’ squad held on for a 58-55 triumph. Round 2 should be just as intense.

“It had such a playoff atmosphere, a lot of high energy,” Edens said. “The crowd was really into it. … It’s always been a pretty good rivalry and I think it’s picked up a bit.”

“We’re pumped,” said Dunbar, whose 17.8 scoring average leads M-P and ranks second in Wesco. “We learned a lot … and we’ve gotten a lot better since then.”

M-P’s most recent achievement was a 67-54 win Friday over Monroe (8-3, 12-3), a team that blasted the Tomahawks by 25 on Dec. 14.

“It’s probably one of my top games I’m ready for,” Lake Stevens’ Schumacher said, “because it’s at (Marysville) and they’re going to be all amped up. They want bragging rights.”

Both teams also want to secure one of the North’s four berths to the district tourney, which begins Feb. 21. Edens said he fears a scenario that could eventually pit Lake Stevens against M-P in a winner-to-state, loser-out game. But he’ll deal with that when – and if – it happens.

In the meantime, hopefully, Edens kept a close watch on his children the last few weeks. There’s a strong chance his cunning babysitters – M-P’s Dunbar and Bradley – tried a little brainwashing in the form of converting the young Vikings fans to Tomahawks supporters.

Said Dunbar of Edens’ kids, “We have them wrapped around our finger.”

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