EVERETT
Three minutes and 18 seconds had elapsed in an afternoon battle of Western Conference South Division powers, and already the numbers were heavily weighing down the Mariner boys basketball team.
Edmonds-Woodway was off to a near perfect start with 10 points, while Mariner’s total was just two, except those were timeouts.
Despite the nightmare beginning and early 10-0 deficit, the Marauders responded to timeout lectures from head coach Dexter Griffen and took advantage of a key lineup change, rallying for a 38-35 win over Edmonds-Woodway Feb. 3 at Mariner High School.
“Everybody knows we’re young, and we just weren’t mentally focused,” said Griffen, whose team gave up more points in the first 3:18 than it did during the entire second half (nine).
The Marauders came out of their second first-quarter timeout with a new look. Point guard Danny Chhann, who typically starts but was sidelined by a sprained knee, gave the team an immediate spark off the bench after begging Griffen to let him go into the game.
After the Warriors extended the lead to 12-0, Chhann made a back-door assist and followed that with a three-point play to give Mariner life. The junior eventually scored a team-high 10 points in the comeback win.
Mariner opened the second quarter with its own 11-0 run to tie the score at 17. The teams went back and forth from there before Casey Hamlett’s 3-point shot with four seconds remaining in the second quarter gave Edmonds-Woodway a 26-21 lead heading into halftime.
Hamlett’s shot was one of only two 3-pointers for the Warriors in the first half, with Eric Greenwood burying the other at the end of the first quarter.
Edmonds-Woodway continued to lead through a slow-paced third quarter that saw both teams combine to take just 13 shots. The Warriors held a a 1-point lead into the final period before Damascus Purnell’s layup with 7:14 remaining in the fourth gave the Marauders their first lead of the game at 31-30.
Purnell controlled the fourth quarter, scoring four of his nine points and notching seven of his eight rebounds in the final eight minutes. Scoring off an inbounds play with 3:06 remaining, Purnell gave Mariner a 37-34 lead, and Edmonds-Woodway would not get closer than three points the rest of the way.
Edmonds-Woodway didn’t help itself at the offensive end, going just 2 of 13 from the field, and 1 of 5 from the free-throw line, in the final quarter.
When all was said and done, Warriors coach Gail Pintler barely remembered the hot start that gave his team an early 12-0 lead.
“I would’ve like to have finished the same way,” he said.
E-W’s Connor Donaldson led all scorers with 12 points, while Hamlett added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Senior Jerrel Grant had seven points for Mariner, while Joey Dillon, Kyle Bastys and Nick Malysheff added four apiece.
Scott M. Johnson writes for The Herald in Everett.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
