LAKE STEVENS — It’s not easy to be louder than the Lake Stevens High School band.
But the Mariner basketball team made some noise of its own against the Vikings Thursday night.
The Marauders jumped out to an 11-0 lead to start the game and held off a late rally by Lake Stevens to defeat the Vikings 45-42 in both teams’ 4A District 1 opener at Lake Stevens High School. Mariner earned its first boys basketball playoff victory since 2009.
“They came in pretty tough and pretty hard,” said Mariner junior Swell Ewing, who led the Marauders with 14 points. “… But I felt like we had them the whole night from the beginning. We came in quiet on the bus and then loud in the gym.”
Mariner scored the game’s first 11 points as Lake Stevens missed its first eight shot attempts. The Marauders led most of the way — up by as many as 11 — before Lake Stevens netted four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to rally back and tie the score.
But Ewing hit another big 3-pointer in the closing minutes to keep Mariner in front and clinch a spot in the district semifinals this weekend. The Marauders will face Cascade (19-1), the No. 5 team in the most recent Associated Press 4A poll, at 8 p.m. Saturday at Everett Community College.
“It was nice to come in here and get this win tonight,” Mariner head coach Dexter Griffen said. “The kids played hard, they played together and did a fantastic job. I couldn’t have asked for more. We were active defensively and we also shared the ball on the offensive end. That was the key. We played good defense, created some turnovers, and offensively we did a good job executing.”
Izaiah Clark scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds and Adrian Placencio added five points, seven rebounds and five steals for Mariner (10-11 overall).
The Marauders led 25-17 at halftime with both teams struggling offensively in the third quarter and netting nine points each. Mariner finished just ahead of Lake Stevens in field-goal percentage, with the Marauders shooting 33 percent (15 of 45) to the Vikings’ 35 percent (16 of 46).
“We’re off and on just like any high school team. Sometimes we’re on fire, sometimes we can’t buy a bucket,” Griffen said. “We happened to be on tonight and we took advantage of some open 3-point shots and we hit them.
“… (Lake Stevens) came out and competed against us. They came out and competed hard. We just did a little bit more to win it.”
Sophomore Ryder Kavanagh led Lake Stevens (10-11) with 17 points — including eight in the fourth quarter. Kavanagh made two quick 3-pointers to start the final period and bring Lake Stevens to within two, 34-32.
Kavanagh also netted a pair of free throws to tie the score at 34, before Mariner retook the lead.
“Ryder has been good all year,” Lake Stevens head coach Mark Hein said. “I feel like he’s kind of flown under the radar in terms of some of the better players in the league. He’s right up there with those guys. He handles it all game for us and he’s made big shot after big shot for us all year long.”
Senior guard Dante Lewis added two more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with nine points in the game for the Vikings.
“We didn’t take care of the ball very well and we didn’t attack their zone very well and we settled early on in the game and it kind of impacted us, creating a bit of a hole to dig out of,” Hein said. “You’ve got to give it to them, they had some guys that made plays.
“I’m always proud of our guys, they always work hard, but right now we’re just disappointed,” Hein continued. “That’s one that we let get away.”
Lake Stevens will face the loser of Saturday’s Jackson-Kamiak game in a loser-out contest at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Everett Community College.
“You have no choice but to bounce back,” Hein said. “These guys are high-character guys and I have full faith that our senior leadership will make sure that happens.”
Mariner, meanwhile, is excited for another chance against Cascade. The Bruins defeated Mariner both times the two teams met this season, including a 63-53 victory less than a week ago on Feb. 5.
“We haven’t won a playoff game since the last time I was coaching so it was nice for our school to get a playoff win tonight,” Griffen said. “To go against Cascade, that’s a tall task. They do a good job over there. They have some talented players. We’re going to have to play even better than we did tonight if we’re going to have the chance to move on.”
Added Ewing: “It’s a big win and we’re happy, but we’re not satisfied. We want more than just one win. We want to go all the way. That’s what we’re here for.”
At Lake Stevens H.S.
Mariner 13 12 9 11 —45
Lake Stevens 8 9 9 16 —42
Mariner—Adrian Placencio 5, Edwin Bouah 4, Kevin Villalobos 6, Swell Ewing 14, Isaiah Clark 12, Jalen Hayes 4, Nick Lea 0. Lake Stevens—Ryder Kavanagh 17, Loagen Bremner 2, Wyatt Wahlberg 4, Dante Lewis 9, EJ Hieber 0, Marquel McFerrin 3, Conor Bardue 5, Conor Widmann 0, Trey Pavitt 2. Records—Mariner 10-11 overall. Lake Stevens 10-11.
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