MARYSVILLE After fighting a high-intesity battle for a chance at the postseason in the last three weeks of the regular season, a playoff opener at home against Jackson was just another game for the Tomahawks.
Explained senior forward Colin Thomason, The guys are used to playing tough games. This was just another game for us tonight. The implications were bigger, but the intensity was the same.
After going 6-1 in their last seven games, M-P has gotten used to finding ways to win. And the Feb. 13 win gave the Tomahawks the playoff victory they never got with standout alumni Jared Stohl and Nathan Lozeau, who are in their freshman seasons at Division I universities Portland and San Diego, respectively.
According to head coach Bary Gould, the Tomahawks success was in its team play. Led by seniors Taylor Stevens, Blake Scheller and Thomason, M-P led Jackson from Schellers buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the first period.
Coaches talk about their leaders stepping up in the big games, and the three seniors turned in impressive performances. Each scored in every quarter of the game, and each had a performance in the double figures, led by Stevens 27 points. Scheller added 16 and Thomason 15 points to help M-P break away in the second and third quarters and maintain roughly a 10-point lead for the rest of the game.
We did find the open guy and shared the ball, Gould said after the game.
Gould praised Schellers vigorous defense of Timberwolves standout freshman Brett Kingma for helping M-P preserve its lead.
The job he did on Kingma tonight was great, Gould said, adding his point guard cut his teeth against tough league competition. When we get a bit of a lead, we can protect that lead by playing defense.
The win put M-P a game away from the state tournament, but the Tomahawks took some time to relish their playoff victory.
Weve had so much frustration in this program, losing at districts every year, explained Thomason. We didnt have the talent this year to rest on it. We had to step it up every game.
So far they have. The Tomahawks next test was Wesco South champs Edmonds-Woodway in a winner-to-state game Feb. 16.

At M-P H.S.

M-P Soriano 3, Scheller 16, Thomason 15, Lovell 2, Forsythe 6, Stevens 27. Jackson Kingma 14, Todd 18, Gootee 6, Bray 11, Oh 2, Sullivan 6. 3-point goals Kingma 2, Thomason 2, Scheller 1.