Cougars & Tigers Advance in 2A Boys Tourney
- Ted House
- Feb 17
- 4 min read
There are two teams remaining in the consolation round of the 2A Boys District Tournament. Those two survived elimination games on Monday night at Mount Vernon High School. One came away with a fairly comfortable win, while the other happened in dramatic fashion.
Lakewood 55, Squalicum 41
The Squalicum Storm, entering their district tournament elimination game with a record of 10-11, should be praised for playing their best basketball of the season at the right time. They won at Oak Harbor to end the regular season, then they pushed #2 Anacortes, losing in overtime. They regrouped, and won an elimination game at Archbishop Murphy, also in overtime, setting up a rematch with Lakewood, in another elimination contest.
The Storm would have to come up with a turnaround of epic proportions, however, to knock of a Lakewood Cougar team that beat the Storm, 74-34, in December. The Storm was competitive, but this was the Cougars’ night, as they led from start to finish, in a 55-41 win, ending the season for the Storm, while the Cougars advance to the consolation final.
The Cougars got off to a quick 8-1 start and kept the Storm at arms reach the entire game. The Cougars used an extended 2-3 zone defense to keep pressure on the Storm’s perimeter shooters. Their defense kept the Storm from scoring double-digits in each of the first three quarters.
Caleb Greenland, the Cougars leading scorer at 24 points per game, played through foul trouble until getting tagged with his fourth personal just two minutes into the third quarter. He went to the bench with his team leading 22-17. That was the que for Cougar junior guard, Derek Willson.
Over the next minute of play, Willson hit two 3-point shots, then hit a third after a 2-point put back by senior forward Whitney Haines. But he wasn’t through.
Willson hit another 3-pointer at the two-minute mark of the third quarter, then converted a steal and a lay-in. The icing on the cake came with sophomore guard Carter Langum hit a 3-point shot of his own with ten seconds left in the quarter. That gave the Cougars a 19-point lead, heading into the final period.
The Storm scored 20 of their 41 points in the fourth quarter as they quickened their offensive pace, but never got their deficit to single digits.
Junior forward Orion Granberg-Kiddle scored 11 of hit 14 points in the second half to lead the Storm. Junior guard Blake Elston scored nine of his 11 points, also in the second half. Sophomore guard Hunter Calloway, scored ten points, all in the first half. Those three underclassmen return for the Storm next year, and they are were their three leading scorers this season. Squalicum finished the season with a record of 10-12.
Willson led the Cougars with 16 points, with 11 coming in that third quarter run. Langum finished with 15, and 12 for junior guard Drew Egger. Greenland hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to finish with 10 points.
Burlington-Edison 62, Sehome 60
Senior forward Logan Heigert scooped up a loose ball and went the distance uncontested to the rim, scoring a lay-in with one second on the clock, giving the Burlington-Edison a heart-stopping 62-60 win over the Sehome Mariners.
With 3:39 left in the fourth quarter, Tiger senior guard Madden Whitlock converted a 3-point play to give the Tigers a 60-55 lead.
Sehome senior guard Nolan Wright scored a 3-point play of his own with 2:35 left, to cut the Tigers lead back to two.
After five combined empty possessions, Sehome senior guard Klay Jackson nailed a game-tying 3-point shot with 38 seconds left.
On the Tigers next possession, they turned the ball over on a shot clock violation, giving the ball back to Sehome with 8.7 seconds left, and the game tied at 60-60.
Sehome senior forward Xavier Kelley worked the ball into front court against the defense of Tigers senior forward Paxton Booth, but in a crossover move, lost control of the ball near the top of the key. Heigert, then scooped up the ball and headed down the floor, alone, timing the release of his lay-in perfectly. The ball went through a second before the final buzzer, sending the Tiger team and their fans into celebration. Of course, the Mariners were left with trying to combat the thoughts of what had just happened.
A finish like this seemed unthinkable as the Tigers increased their eight-point halftime lead to 19 points in the middle of the third quarter. But the Mariners began to chip away at the Tiger lead, and when senior reserve guard Alex Miller hit a 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer, the Mariners trailed only 50-41.
Early in the fourth quarter, Wright hit Kelley for a bucket, that cut the lead to five. Then Kelley hit two 3-point shots, and the Mariners worked the Tigers lead down to 55-53. Kelley scored the first 12 points of the fourth quarter for the Mariners.
After Whitlock and Wright exchanged 3-point plays at the 2:35 mark, both offenses came up empty until Jackson’s game-tying shot with 38 seconds left.
Kelley scored at will all night for the Mariners, finishing with 32 points, but he was the only Mariner in double-figures. Wright was next with nine points. The Mariners season ends with a record of 15-8.
The game winner by Heigert gave him a total of 34 points on the night. Whitlock had 15 for the Tigers.
What’s next?
The Tigers (16-7) move on to the consolation final against Lakewood (15-7). That game will be at Mount Vernon High School, Wednesday, at 630pm. The Cougars won their regular season matchup at Burlington, 54-43.
The third-place winner will travel to Eastern Washington to take on the third-place team from the CWAC District Tournament. That game will be on Saturday, with the winner advancing to the state tournament.
There was a time change on the Burlington-Lakewood boys’ game. It was originally scheduled for 730pm, but was changed to 630pm. Also, on Wednesday at MVHS, the 3rd place game in the girls 2A District Tournament will take place at 445pm between Anacortes and Squalicum. After the Burlington-Lakewood boys’ game at 630pm, there will be a 3A girls District Tournament game between Sedro-Woolley and Mount Vernon, scheduled for 800pm.
~ Ted House
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