The charity stripe hasn’t been forgiving to the Lady Tomahawks so far this year.
But Marysville-Pilchuck’s girls basketball knocked down the free ones when it mattered most to keep its season alive by defeating Stanwood 54-50 in district tournament action Feb. 16.
Connor Hemming still doesn’t believe that he is a diver.
“I started when I was a sophomore and it was fun, but I didn’t see myself as being good enough to make state,” said the Marysville-Pilchuck senior.
In an upset victory, the Lady Tomahawks showed the fighting spirit that earned them a trip to the state tournament a year ago.
Trailing 43-42 to Edmonds-Woodway with 12 seconds remaining of a first-round district game Feb. 10, Marysville-Pilchuck got a seemingly open look out of an inbounds play, but Emily Enberg’s layin was blocked.
It didn’t matter how they got it done, the end result was the same for both Brandon Blevins and Christian Mendoza: they are headed to state.
The two were part of six overall Tommies and two alternates that will represent Marysville-Pilchuck at Mat Classic XXIII.
The Tommies qualified all three relay teams for the state tournament to go along with a handful of individuals.
Finishing second place in the District 1 tournament at home with 486 points Feb. 12, the Tommies will be well represented at the state meet.
The Cougars showed improvement against the Tigers, but in the playoffs only wins count.
“Even though I thought we had improved over the season since we played them last, they were moving forward too,” said Lakewood coach Chris Walster.
Senior night might have brought a few butterflies to the Tommies.
In Wesco North boys basketball action, Marysville-Pilchuck had probably the most difficulty scoring it’s had all season in a 54-30 loss to Stanwood.
It’s hard enough to beat Lake Stevens, but Marysville-Pilchuck took on the Vikings with a number of starters out with various injuries.
The result was a 59-12 loss in Wesco wrestling action Jan. 27.
“That’s Lake Stevens, they’ve been on top of the league for a while now,” said M-P coach Craig Iversen about the state’s top-ranked program this year.
The Tommies suffered two losses in one night.
On a night where Marysville-Pilchuck was looking to solidify its playoff position and get a little payback from a loss earlier in the year, the Lady Tomahawks came away with a loss and an injury Jan 26.
“When you lose the player that controls the floor for you, that is really hard to deal with,” said M-P coach Julie Martin after her girls lost 50-46 in Wesco North action.
It didn’t come easy, but the Lady Cougars got back to .500.
In a Cascade Conference hoops game that came down to the final possession Jan. 25, Lakewood defeated Granite Falls 44-42 to better its postseason hopes.
It had to happen to somebody.
Granite Falls rode a hot streak against Lakewood to win its first Cascade Conference contest in two years.
A defeat of Arlington was a few years coming for Marysville-Pilchuck.
“That one was a real nice one to get — we hadn’t beat (the Eagles) in three years,” said M-P head coach Craig Iversen.
Marysville-Pilchuck girls basketball team couldn’t handle Monroe’s backcourt pressure Jan 21 in a 62-48 Wesco North loss.
In a matchup to see which team held sole possession of third place, the Tommies didn’t match the Tigers intensity in the second half.
