Win salves Bruins’ wound

Cascade rebounds from disappointing loss with convincing 57-46 victory over Kamiak

By AARON COE

Herald Writer

EVERETT — Two days of hard practice after a crushing loss paid off for the Cascade boys basketball team Friday night.

A 57-46 victory over Kamiak, a team with ambitions of winning the Western Conference 4A South Division, eased the pain of Tuesday’s 54-35 non-league loss to perennial state power Mount Vernon.

Cascade, 1-0 in the Wesco 4A North Division and 2-1 overall, got 18 points and seven rebounds from a sore-ankled Matt Konsmo, who took Tuesday’s loss as hard as any Bruin.

"Everybody was upset, but we knew we would come back," said Konsmo, a 6-foot-3 senior guard. "This was a team victory. We played well as a team."

Kamiak led 10-9 after a quarter in Cascade’s gym, but the Knights struggled offensively in the second quarter.

The Bruins held Kamiak scoreless in the second quarter until Scott Haight hit a 3-point shot with 1:30 remaining before halftime. Jeff Knudson made a 3-point basket 30 seconds later. Those six points were all the Knights could muster during a 11:21 span that began late in the first quarter and continued midway through the third quarter.

"We didn’t play that kind of defense against Mount Vernon," Konsmo said. "We got out on the shooters and used our feet instead of hand-checking."

The Knights (0-1, 0-2) began finding an offensive groove in the third, but could not find a way to keep Mike Skoor away from the basket.

Skoor, a 6-foot-4 junior forward scored all of his 10 points in the third quarter on a series of layups, including three that came after his own offensive rebound. Skoor equaled Konsmo with seven rebounds.

"His game is effort and hustle," Cascade coach Jerry Koester said of Skoor. "He’s not a refined basketball player, but he’s very active. His game inside was a contributing factor."

Koester said the Bruins were much improved offensively from the Mount Vernon game.

"We stayed aggressive on offense (Friday)," Koester said. "We were very passive against Mount Vernon."

Cascade seemed to be in control with 4:08 remaining in the third with a 33-19 lead.

Knudson quickly put Kamiak back in contention with consecutive 3-pointers to cut the Bruins’ lead to eight points. Knudson scored all of his 12 points on 3-point shots.

Kamiak, which made nine 3-point baskets in the game, closed within 37-31 on Haight’s 3 with 1:45 remaining in the third.

Konsmo, who did not score in the second or third quarters, made a 3 of his own to begin the fourth quarter. He scored nine straight Cascade points to give the Bruins a commanding 48-38 advantage with four minutes left in the contest.

Kamiak’s Scott Szalay made back-to-back layups to pull the Knights within six, but the Bruins made five free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

"Coach told us we didn’t play well against Mount Vernon, but that we were still in that game for three quarters," Konsmo said. "We knew what we needed to do to win."

Mike Boyle led the Knights with 13 points, including 10 in the second half. The senior point guard made numerous quick passes to teammates inside, but the Knights struggled many times to make layups.

Carson Hill added 13 points and seven rebounds for Cascade.

Junior forward Jamichael Bailey had a strong defensive game off the bench in addition to his seven points and seven rebounds.

Koester said the win was big for Cascade, even though it came early in the season.

"Four of our top seven players are juniors who have almost no varsity experience," Koester said. "It was neat to bounce back and play well."

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Kamiak	10	6	17	13	—	46
Cascade	9	14	16	18	—	57

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Kamiak—Knudson 12, Haight 8, Boyle 13, Baines 7, Szalay 6. Cascade—Hansen 5, Curtiss 4, Konsmo 18, Skoor 10, Hill 13, Bailey 7. 3-point goals—Knudson 4, Haight 2, Boyle 2, Baines 1. JV score—Cascade 64, Kamiak 63 in OT. Records—Cascade 1-0 in conference 2-1 overall. Kamiak 0-1, 0-2.