SHORELINE
The Shorecrest Scots left the Shorewood gym a happy group of guys.
Shorecrest beat Shorewood 62-46 with a combination of timely shots, offensive rebounds and accurate free throw shooting.
“We actually closed out the fourth quarter tonight which is what we’ve been trying to do,” said Shorecrest senior Tommy Kanuch, who finished with 16 points including 10 in the fourth quarter of the Jan. 15 contest.
Last time the teams played at Shorecrest Dec. 11, the Scots wilted under Shorewood’s pressure and blew a seven-point fourth quarter lead.
That didn’t happen this time as Shorecrest outscored Shorewood 23-12 and made nine of 10 free throws in fourth quarter.
“We did the fundamental things which is what we didn’t do last time to close the game,” Shorecrest coach Brian Fischer said.
Shorecrest’s three inside players, Kanuch, a 6-foot, 3-inch forward, Mark Golike, a 6-3 forward, and Ryan Dodge, a 6-4 forward dominated in the paint on offense and defense. Golike finished with 16 points and Dodge had 10. While Shorecrest’s big guys combined for 42 points, Shorewood got only three from their inside players, all of them by Andrew Haug.
“We’re a little taller than Shorewood,” Kanuch said. “We tried to exploit their weaknesses with getting the boards. It’s all about effort.”
“They outhustled us,” Shorewood coach Shawn Hall said. “They were getting second chance shots. Their inside game beat us.”
Shorewood led early, but Shorecrest came back to take a 28-24 halftime lead. The Scots extended their lead to eight in the third, but Shorewood went on a 8-0 run to tie it at 32 on a basket by Stuart Harvey. Shorecrest went on a 7-0 run capped by a pair of free throws by Kaunch. Shorewood got within three early in the fourth, but Kanuch answered, and after a couple missed free throws by the Thunderbirds, Shorecrest controlled the game down the stretch.
“He’s really come on for us the last several games,” Fischer said of Kanuch. “Tonight was no different. Besides scoring he does a lot of little things that don’t end up on the stat box.”
Shorecrest made 15 of 19 free throws or 79 percent. Shorewood made only 7 of 16 for 44 percent.
Tomas Sanchez led Shorewood with 17 points.
Shorewood’s Stuart Harvey, who scored a school-record 54 points last week against Jackson, was held to single-digits for the third straight game. “He wasn’t himself,” Hall said. “He missed practice yesterday (because of illness). His shot was off all night.”
It had been nearly seven years since the Shorecrest boys (2-8 Western Conference South Division, 5-9 overall) last won at Shorewood (1-9, 2-12) The Scots won 50-39 on Jan. 23, 2001.
Shorecrest has now won two out its last three, the other win coming over Mountlake Terrace Jan. 10. They also lost by three to 7-7 and fifth-place Kamiak.
Shorecrest hosts Edmonds-Woodway tonight, Friday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m. The Warriors are 8-2 in the league and tied for first.
Shorewood plays at Lynnwood at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
“We got to go to the next one and play with the same intensity as tonight,” Fischer said. “We’re starting to play better basketball.”
The rivalry between the schools always means a packed house and emotions tend to run high. When the final buzzer sounded, the Shorecrest fans stormed the court and mobbed the Shorecrest players at center court. At one point, they lifted Kanuch up and he appeared to be body surfing. The Shorewood players and coaches waited for a few seconds and right before Shorecrest came over to shake hands, they left the court.
“Our fans got a little excited and they made it tough for us to (shake hands),” Fischer said. “Our fans kind of got in the way.”
Shorewood coach Shawn Hall came over to the Shorecrest locker room to apologize to Fischer after the game for not shaking hands.
Shorewood owned the rivalry for five years, but the last two years the teams have split.
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