MILL CREEK
Jamie Eisinger likes his basketball fast and frenetic. It’s when he plays his best, and at times his worst — as was the case early in Tuesday night’s 4A District 1 boys basketball game at Jackson High School.
But the Jackson High senior made his most important contribution when the chaos subsided and the gym went silent. Eisinger hit seven free throws in the final 73 seconds of Tuesday’s game against Lake Stevens, helping the Timberwolves pull away for a 51-45 victory.
Thanks to Eisinger’s free throw shooting down the stretch, and his game total of 20 points, Jackson will live for another day in its quest to go to the state tournament. The Timberwolves (17-6) will face Snohomish tonight (Friday, Feb. 23) for the right to go to state.
“I love under-pressure games. They’re fun,” Eisinger said after going 7-for-8 from the free-throw line during the final 1:33 of Tuesday’s win. “The fans were into it, and we’ve been able to get it done numerous times.”
While Eisinger and the Timberwolves finished strong, they didn’t exactly come flying out of the gates. Lake Stevens scored the first eight points of the game en route to an 11-2 lead, during which time Eisinger went 0-for-4 from the field and had several turnovers.
But Eisinger eventually heated up, leading Jackson on a 9-0 run over the final 2:06 of the first quarter to tie the score at 11 heading into the second period.
The Timberwolves’ run continued over the first seven minutes of that quarter, with Jackson scoring another 13 straight points to complete a 22-point run en route to a 24-11 lead. Eisinger had nine points and four assists during that span, during which Jackson hit 9 of 11 field goals.
“I was ready to start crying,” Eisinger said of the slow start. “I didn’t want my senior year to end that way. I thought: This might be my last game, so we’d better get it going.”
While the first six minutes of the game represented a change of roles in that defense-first Lake Stevens was on the offensive, the next few minutes saw the high-scoring Timberwolves take control due to, gasp, defense. Lake Stevens turned the ball over seven times in a span of less than eight minutes.
Brett Dvorak’s 3-pointer from the top of the key ended the Vikings’ drought with 4:50 remaining in the first half. Both teams struggled to score after that, with Jackson heading into halftime on top 26-16.
Jackson coach Steve Johnson said the slow start was a product of the mental toll that last Friday’s 67-62 loss to Mariner took on the Timberwolves.
“When you’re coming off a disappointing loss and drop into the loser’s bracket, there’s a lingering effect,” Johnson said. “As much as we try to avoid it, the reality is that there’s a little bit of that. We rebounded from that and started playing with intensity.”
That, and a key Lake Stevens injury, changed the feel of the game. Vikings senior Evan Steinruck limped off the floor late in the first quarter after a collision under the basket and never returned. Steinruck said his left ankle popped out of place — it’s a recurring injury that first happened early last season — and that he knew almost immediately that his night was over.
“I thought: I can’t let the team down like this,” the 6-foot-4 forward said afterward. “I wanted to get it taped up and get back in there. But once I tried to walk, I knew I couldn’t play.”
Lake Stevens fought valiantly without the senior, taking a 40-38 lead on Jordan Carter’s driving layup early in the fourth quarter, but in the end the Vikings (15-8) couldn’t hang on. Jackson hit 11 of 12 field goals over the final 4:31 to pull away.
“As much as you would like to say it’s no big deal, Evan has meant a lot to us this year in a lot of phases: leadership, rebounding, scoring,” Lake Stevens coach Mark Hein said. “It seemed like when he went down, we lack a lot of fire.
“… I didn’t think we dealt with Evan’s injury and the way the momentum shifted in the first half well.”
Woody Pearson led Lake Stevens with 11 points and six rebounds, while Carter added 10 points.
Dan Wishko had nine points and four rebounds for Jackson, while Chris Reimer added eight points, including two 3-pointers. Eisinger, with a game-high 20 points, was the only Timberwolves player in double figures.
“He’s a great player — in my opinion, the best player in the league, the area, the county, wherever,” Johnson said. “But he’s not Superman. We have asked a ton of him, and I think he was a little frustrated early in the game.”
But when it counted most, and the game slowed down, he made the shots that counted.
“I’ll take him on the (free-throw) line,” Johnson said. “He’s been my guy. He’s had the ball in his hands for three years now, and he’s done a lot of great things — for the program and for the team.
“He’s the guy I’ll go down with.”
Scott M. Johnson writes for The Herald in Everett.
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