MILL CREEK
The Mariner Marauders gave coach Dexter Griffen a birthday present he may never forget: A trip to the Tacoma Dome and a chance to play for the Class 4A boys basketball state championship.
Griffen’s Marauders upset the Jackson Timberwolves 67-62 in a 4A District 1 tournament game Feb. 16 at Jackson High School, earning a state tournament berth for the first time since 2002.
The third time was a charm for the Marauders, who lost both regular season games to the Timberwolves.
“It feels good,” Griffen said after the victory, “Jackson is a tough opponent. We’ve had a hard time with them all year.”
Mariner and Jackson battled back and forth with each other until the third quarter ended knotted up at 46-46.
That’s when the Marauders turned up the heat.
Junior Joey Dillon scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, including five in a 7-0 Marauder run that allowed Mariner to open up a 56-48 lead with 2 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the game.
“Joey Dillon stepped up in that fourth quarter and delivered for us. He was huge in that fourth quarter,” Griffen said of the junior guard.
“The first half I wasn’t on. Coach talked to me at halftime and got me pumped up,” said Dillon, who scored 15 points in the second half.
A late comeback attempt by Jackson fell short when Dillon, who had missed three of his prior four free throw attempts, knocked down three of his final four from the free throw line with less than 30 seconds to play.
“I had to stay focused, worry about making the next one, not think about the previous shots,” Dillon said.
Perhaps the biggest thing for the Marauders was their defensive intensity.
After getting beaten by Jackson’s standout guard Jamie Eisinger in the first half, the Marauders put all of their defense effort into slowing him down.
The strategy worked as Eisinger was held to just three field goals in the second half.
“Going into the fourth quarter with a tie game, I felt pretty good,” Jackson head coach Steve Johnson said.
Eisinger did finish with a game-high 28 points and nearly posted a triple-double with eight rebounds and seven assists.
“They were trapping Jamie and not letting him penetrate as easily,” Johnson said.
“It was a hard fought battle. Our kids did a nice job at the defensive end,” Griffen said.
Sophomore Damascus Purnell and junior Danny Chhann scored 12 points apiece for the Marauders, who start two sophomores, a junior and a senior.
“I thought we lost the game with our defense,” Johnson said. “We didn’t defend the ball very well and we didn’t defend the posts as well as we’ve emphasized.”
Chris Reimer had 15 and Dan Wishko added 11 for Jackson, who was attempting to earn its second straight trip to the Tacoma Dome.
“We relied a little bit probably too much on the 3,” Johnson said. “It’s certainly something we’ve relied on all year. It’s hard to say ‘don’t rely on the 3’ when you’ve been an excellent 3-point shooting team all season.”
Mariner (14-7) now faces Edmonds-Woodway, a team it has already beaten twice this season, for the district championship next Saturday at Jackson High School.
Kevin Johnson writes for The Herald in Everett. Enterprise sports editor David Pan contributed to this story.
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