ARLINGTON — Marysville Getchell coach Corby Schuh’s brand-new varsity program faced its first-ever test when they traveled to Arlington for its season opener on Nov. 29.
The Chargers came out swinging, but the more experienced Arlington squad found their basketball legs and fought back for a 70-53 win.
Getchell sprung out to a 15-6 lead to end the first quarter with sharp perimeter shooting to show the Arlington crowd that they meant business.
“We were playing good, hard defense and we were excited,” Schuh said of his team’s quick start. “But I told the team that this is Arlington’s house and basketball is a game of runs.”
Arlington came alive and flexed its muscles in the paint to pull within three at 18-15 with four and a half minutes left in the second quarter.
“We played hard. That’s the biggest thing,” Getchell senior forward Spencer Winters said. “We came out tough in the first quarter, but we got comfortable.”
Arlington outscored Getchell 19-9 in the second quarter before Eagle junior guard Terry Dawn scored a go-ahead tip-in as time expired in the first half to give his team its first lead, 25-24.
The Chargers played tough man-to-man defense in the second half, but time and again the Eagles burned Getchell with open three-pointers. Arlington led 50-44 at the end of the third quarter, preventing the Chargers from driving to the basket and forcing one-shot possessions.
The Eagles gained a distinct edge in defensive rebounding and outscored the Chargers 20-9 in the fourth, seizing a 57-49 lead with four minutes left in the game and keeping their zone immovable to cruise to a 70-53 win.
Schuh was very pleased with how his team competed in the first three quarters and into the fourth in their very first night of prime competition.
“They’re a very good team,” Schuh said of the Arlington squad that made it to the state tournament last year. “Nobody hung their head. We can learn from this and work on keeping our defense up for 32 minutes and get our first-ever win at Lake Stevens.”
Getchell sophomore guards Nathen Grimm and Omar Sakin-Romulus and junior guard Ali Al-Azadi led their team in scoring with 11 points each.
