SHORELINE — With a week to go in the regular season, the Shorewood boys basketball team continues to pursue Mariner and Kamiak for one of the league’s final two playoff berths.
The Thunderbirds overcame a ragged start to blitz last-place Lynnwood 67-32 Tuesday night at Shorewood High School.
The victory was Shorewood’s fourth in five games and lifted the T-birds to 8-7 in Western Conference 4A South Division play and 9-8 overall.
Mariner edged Jackson 50-45 and Kamiak topped Shorecrest 65-55 to remain a game ahead of Shorewood in the Wesco South standings with three games to go.
“All of them are must-win games. It puts our backs against the wall,” said senior forward Michael Stiles, one of four T-birds to score in double figures against Lynnwood.
Two layups and a 3-pointer from junior Rob Diederichs helped Shorewood sprint to a 9-0 lead over the Royals in the first four minutes.
Lynnwood shrunk the gap to three in the first two minutes of the second period before the T-birds closed out the half with a 12-4 run to take a 27-16 lead at the break.
“We’ve come out slow a lot this year,” Shorewood junior Rob Diederichs said. “Our defense wasn’t where it needed to be at the start. In the second half we were getting our hands on 10 times more balls. We were going after it.”
Diederichs led all scorers with 13 points, but it was his decision-making at the point that allowed the T-birds to pull away in the second half.
Filling in for senior point guard Blake Bernhard, who has missed four games due to illness, Diederichs upped the pace and delivered a series of no-look passes to teammates for fastbreak hoops.
“I woke up in the second half and started pushing the ball a lot more and dishing it to guys. I should have been doing that in the first half,” Diederichs said.
“At the start of the year when we were struggling, we needed someone to push the ball and I thought I could do it. We’re playing a lot better since someone’s pushing the ball. Everyone’s getting involved.”
Stiles scored six of his 12 points during a decisive third quarter and sophomore Brock Hartman added 12 points off the bench for the T-birds.
Bernhard could return to the lineup for tonight’s game at Jackson or early next week.
“Blake is one of our top players and we’re missing him right now,” Stiles said. “He keeps everybody under control.”
The T-birds close out the season with games against Edmonds-Woodway Feb. 17 and Everett Feb. 19.
“We’re telling ourselves we need to win out,” Diederichs said. “Mariner’s one game ahead of us and they control their own destiny. We need to capitalize if they lose one.”
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