MUKILTEO — One of the biggest reasons the Lake Stevens girls basketball team has gotten off to a fast start to the 2014-15 season is its depth. Of the 10 players on the Vikings’ roster, all 10 played and seven scored points in a 57-46 victory over Kamiak on Wednesday.
The varsity roster is made up of five sophomores and one freshman to go along with two juniors and two seniors, but all that youth hasn’t stopped the Vikings from opening the season 2-0 in Wesco 4A play and 4-1 overall.
“With young kids, you want to build that confidence early,” Lake Stevens head coach Randall Edens said. “If they can start feeling good about themselves then maybe we can keep accomplishing bigger and better things as we keep moving forward throughout the season.”
One of the team’s juniors, Hailey Wilson, gave the Vikings’ offense what it needed to outlast the Knights. After scoring just two points in the first half, Wilson scored 18 in the second half to finish with a game-high 20 points. Twelve of her 20 came in the fourth quarter.
“I’m real excited for her because she’s really worked hard on her game and she’s one of our four upperclassmen out of 22 kids (on junior varsity and varsity), so we really need to rely on her at these type of times,” Edens said. “It’s really nice to see her step up like that.”
With the Vikings’ leading scorer Emily Vandegrift struggling to find her shot, Wilson took over late in the game.
“What got me going was my teammates support and my teammates help,” Wilson said. “Without them encouraging me, because I didn’t really have a great first half, they really got my spirits up which helped me carry my team.”
Despite several missed shots, Vandegrift still managed to finish with 14 points, 10 of which came in the first half.
The Knights’ perimeter shooting kept them in the game most of the game. They made eight 3s, six of which came in the first half to say within four points of the Vikings at halftime.
“They were in their comfort zone early, where they would just drive and kick for 3s,” Edens said. “It seemed like everyone was hitting one that we didn’t anticipate.”
Edens said he talked to his team at halftime about making Kamiak drive to the rim instead of getting open looks from the 3-point line. In the third quarter, the Vikings strategy seemed to work as Kamiak didn’t hit one shot from long range.
With the perimeter shot not working, junior post Tylor Adcock stepped up. Kamiak’s most consistent player was shut out in the first half, but came alive with seven points in the third quarter. She finished the game with nine.
“She’s kind of the glue because their group is very perimeter oriented and she brings a toughness to that group that you have to match, at least, otherwise she’s going to kind of have her way,” Edens said. “If you have to collapse down on her that’s just going to free up everyone else to shoot it.”
Adcock helped keep the Knights within seven heading into the final quarter. They would cut the lead to three midway through the third period, but Wilson’s 12 fourth-quarter points were too much to overcome.
“This was great for us,” Wilson said. “This is just a testament to show how far we can go this season. I’m really excited because we have a really good team and we have a lot of aspects of the team that are going to take us far.”
At Kamiak H.S.
Lake Stevens 15 17 11 14 —57
Kamiak 13 15 8 10 —46
Lake Stevens—Alex Briggs 5, Emma Smith 6, Kristen Glick 0, Anna Lundquist 3, Riley O’Toole 0, Marissa Walton 5, Emily Vandegrift 14, Kylee Griffen 4, Hailey Wilson 19. Kamiak—Tiana Roe, Grace Hamill 1, Alexie Morris 9, Sarah Payne 9, Tylor Adcock 9, Katelyn Huguenin 3, Jamie Beirne 4, Emily Pillman 3, Aliea Marrero 8. 3-point goals—Briggs 1, Smith 1, Lundquist 1, Walton 1, Morris 3, Payne 2, Huguenin 1, Pillman 1, Marrero 1. Records—Lake Stevens 2-0 league, 4-1 overall. Kamiak 1-1, 3-2.
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