TACOMA

Edmonds-Woodway’s first appearance at the Class 4A state boys basketball tournament in nearly a decade didn’t go quite as planned, but the Warriors still walked away with a sense of accomplishment.

Western Conference North Division rival Snohomish, which Edmonds-Woodway defeated in the Northwest District 1 tournament, ended the Warriors’ hopes of earning a trophy with a 47-40 victory in a loser-out game March 2 at the Tacoma Dome. The Panthers later on went on to beat Kentwood to take fifth place.

The last time Edmonds-Woodway advanced to state was in 1998 when the team went 0-2. After dropping its Feb. 28 first-round game 63-42 to eventual state runner-up Kentridge, Edmonds-Woodway rebounded with a thrilling 65-63 victory over Garfield in a consolation game on March 1. The victory sent the Warriors into Friday’s loser-out rematch with Snohomish.

“Winning a game at state is still an accomplishment,” said senior center Casey Hamlett, who also led the football team to the state semifinals. “It proves that you’re one of the best teams. It’s been a fun ride. It’s sad that it had to end that way.”

Senior forward Eric Greenwood, another standout football player, had no complaints about a season in which the Warriors exceeded most people’s expectations.

“It’s been a while since we were here (state),” Greenwood said. “It was a really good season.”

Edmonds-Woodway’s success was due in large part to the play of Hamlett and Greenwood, who earned first- and second-team, all-league honors, respectively.

“They were real key to our success,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Gail Pintler said. “The real key is that they’re leaders. Casey has a motor that doesn’t quit and Eric has the great physical talents.”

Both will continue their football careers in college. Hamlett is headed to Western Washington, while Greenwood will play for the University of Idaho.

For a while, the Warriors appeared to be on their way to playing on Saturday. Edmonds-Woodway dominated play early against Snohomish, jumping to a 13-7 first-quarter advantage. The Warriors led 21-18 at halftime.

“At the beginning we were playing well, but I don’t know, it seemed like it kind of fizzled out,” Greenwood said.

The Panthers took advantage of Edmonds-Woodway’s struggles in the third quarter with a 16-7 run and took a 34-28 lead into the final period.

The Warriors’ energy level that was so good to start the game seemed to wane in the third quarter, Greenwood said.

But Edmonds-Woodway cut the lead to three points three times in the fourth quarter.

“We just didn’t score as much in the second half,” Hamlett said. “Inconsistency has probably been kind of a problem all year.”

Hamlett noted that the Warriors scored 45 points in the first half against Garfield but then mustered only 20 points in the second half.

Edmonds-Woodway shot 47 percent from the field in the first half against Snohomish but then cooled off to 30 percent in the second half.

“The kids never let down,” Pintler said. “But the execution was gone. We didn’t execute like we had before.”

Junior guard James Conti was the only Edmonds-Woodway player to score in double figures with 11 points. Junior guard Max Ortiz added nine and Hamlett had eight.

“It’s a game of runs,” Hamlett said. “We started coming back late, but we didn’t have enough time.

The Warriors lose two starters in Hamlett and Greenwood but bring back the other three starters — Conti, Ortiz, junior forward Connor Donaldson — and key reserves juniors Kyle McCartney and Sean Laue.

Greenwood expects Edmonds-Woodway to be a strong contender next year.

“They’ll be back here for sure no problem,” he said. “Next year they’ll probably even do better. They’ll be older, more mature, more athletic. I think they’ll play really well and a lot of people will be impressed.”

Hamlett echoed his teammate’s sentiments.

“Those guys are going to have a really good team,” he said. “Conner, Max and James. The core’s there. There are a lot of key guys there. There are some young guys that will contribute. … They have all the talent to make it work.”

The major challenge, Pintler said, will be to find some big players to replace Hamlett (6-foot-4) and Greenwood (6-6). The bench likely won’t be quite as deep either.

“I would predict we’ll be back,” Pintler said. “I think we have enough basketball smarts.”

As for Pintler, who was named the interim coach this season, it appears that he too will be back. The longtime Shorewood coach was convinced to return to the bench in part because of a persuasive group of parents.

“It was a fun year,” Pintler said. “It was a lot of energy. I noticed it at practice.”

When he succeeded former coach Rob McMains, Pintler told the parents that they didn’t want to have a coach for just one year.

“You don’t want three coaches in three years for your kids,” Pintler said.

So Pintler more or less committed to coaching for two years, though he also acknowledged that he wouldn’t stand in the way if the administration wanted to bring in someone else.

Both Greenwood and Hamlett said that Pintler brought a steadying influence to the Warriors.

“He’s a great leader,” Greenwood said. “Hopefully he sticks around next year now that all the kids are used to his style.”

The transition from McMains to Pintler was smooth. Pintler is the kind of coach who commands respect without having to be loud and all fire and brimstone, Hamlett said.

“He was a guy we needed,” Hamlett added. “He has a certain calm about him. He keeps it under control. He was really fun to have as a coach. He was really informative. I got a lot better as the season progressed under him. I thanked him after the game for just being a good coach and stepping up to the job.”