Shorecrest stops T-birds, finishes .500

Sullivan, Dodge lead Scots in game interupted by fire alarm in fourth quarter

By Tony Dondero

Enterprise reporter

SHORELINE

On Senior Night, Shorecrest had such a positive vibe going that a gym-clearing fire alarm in the fourth quarter couldn’t dampen the Scots’ spirits.

In front of a packed house the Scots beat rival Shorewood 45-31, to earn a season sweep, Wednesday, Feb. 11.

Shorecrest improved to .500 overall, 10-10, with the win. That meant the Scots finished with a .500 record for the first time since 1996, when current Shorewood coach Marv Morris was head coach.

“I feel great. This is what we needed to build off of,” said senior forward Randy Sullivan who scored a team-high 11 points.

Shorecrest also improved to 8-10 in the Wesco South and earned the third seed to the 3A District 1 tournament because it swept Lynnwood, which also finished 8-10.

Shorecrest will play the winner of Lynnwood and Everett at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20 at Meadowdale, the No. 1 seed.

Shorewood took an early 10-7 lead after a 3-pointer by Demetre Wilkins but Shorecrest responded with a 10-0 run and never looked back.

Shorewood’s postseason hopes ended with a loss to Mariner on Monday and the Thunderbirds were shorthanded with starting guards Micah Mitchell and Jerry Smallwood academically ineligible.

When senior guard Daniel Pillay crashed into a door behind the hoop and was briefly knocked unconscious in the first quarter, the lack of depth showed even more.

Pillay came back briefly in the second quarter with a bandaged head but he soon felt dizzy and he sat on the bench in the second half.

Senior Tomas Sanchez who carried the offensive load all year had even more pressure on him without three starters in the lineup. With the Scots keying on him they held him to 12 points, nearly six below his average. Sanchez brought the ball up most of the time and most of the T-birds’ offense consisted of Sanchez trying to beat the Scots’ Ryan Dodge, among others, off the dribble, one-on-one. A worn down and frustrated Sanchez did not score in the fourth quarter, which is usually where he shines.

“It was really hard. We had a lot of combinations of players that don’t really play together,” Sanchez said. “We usually have our starting five and then the bench comes in. We had our bench mixed in with starters. We didn’t have a lot of chemistry. I’m proud of our second string. They don’t really play a lot. They played the best as they can.”

The game was delayed about 20 minutes in the fourth quarter when the fire alarm in the school went off. Everyone went outside and waited for the fire department to come turn off the alarm, which turned out to be false.

“It’s always exciting between us,” said Dodge, who scored 10 points. “You got have a little bit of pizzazz whenever you play. That was something new to me. It was fun. A fun game to win.”

Shorewood ended its season 3-15 in the Wesco South for ninth place and 4-16 overall. Last year the T-birds went 0-20 after forfeiting two wins for using an ineligible player. A telling stat this season: Shorewood lost eight league games by six points or less.

“If we could’ve closed out one or two of those we’d be in playoffs right now,” Sanchez said. “It’s been a rough three years here for me. (But) this year has definitely been the best.”