Shorecrest boys whip Everett, stay alive

MOUNT VERNON

Isaiah Clevenger scored a career-high 18 points in a 61-40 win over Everett Saturday, Feb . 28 to help keep Shorecrest’s season alive in the 3A District 1 playoffs.

Clevenger came off the bench to score 13 of his points in the second half as the Scots blew the game open and ended the Seagulls season. Shorecrest led 23-13 at the half and took its biggest lead, 54-24 in the fourth quarter.

“We played up to our potential,” Clevenger said. “We pushed the ball really well. It was easy scoring for us.”

Shorecrest advances to play the loser of Glacier Peak and Lynnwood at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 in another loser-out game.

“We have a lot of work to do. We can play a lot better than that,” said senior center Ryan Dodge, who scored 13 points for the Scots. “We’ll have to play better against the competition we’ll see here at districts.

Shorecrest held Everett to 29 percent shooting from the field (12-of-41). Leading scorer Flynn Mattson scored 15 points, but struggled most of the afternoon and no other Seagull cracked double figures.

“I think their main strategy was to get it to their best player, Flynn,” Shorecrest coach Brian Fischer said. “I think we did a pretty job of contesting his shots. He probably had a little bit of an off game. He struggled. I’d like to think we had something to do with that by just always being in his face and not giving him anything easy.”

Meanwhile, Shorecrest got a career-best game from Clevenger who hit a pair of 3-pointers and made 4-of-5 free throws.

“Isaiah did a great job for us off the bench,” Fischer said. “That’ s probably the best game he’s played all year. Not just scoring-wise but the whole package, defense and playing without the ball.”

Shorecrest shot 50 percent from the field as a team on 19-of-38 shooting. The Scots shot 68 percent from the line (17-of-25).

Fischer was happy how his team bounced back after a tough loss at home to Ferndale in the opening round.

“We responded really good after the Ferndale game,” Fischer said. “It’s tough to be at home and lose a home playoff game that you’ve worked so hard for. We knew we had to come back real strong against Everett.”