MARYSVILLE — The lady Tomahawks left Jim Linden Field House with a funny feeling.
“It was just a weird game,” said Marysville-Pilchuck girls hoops coach Julie Martin. “I don’t really know what to say — it was so balanced.”
Parity seemed to be all the Tommies (11-3 overall, 9-1 Wesco) could talk about after a 44-25 conference win against Snohomish Jan 20. Leaving an odd feeling was that on a team where any one of five players could score 20 points, nobody stood out — and the outcome never seemed to be in doubt.
“It felt weird,” said junior guard Morgan Martinis. “We started slow and we didn’t play to our level, we sort of played down.”
Morgan described uncharacteristic performance indeed by an M-P squad that is leading the Wesco North standings, but she was right.
Marysville looked out of sorts through the first quarter, but held an 8-4 lead behind the play of junior Dacia Heckendorf, who scored all six of her points in that quarter and had an assist.
“Dacia always gives 100 percent,” Martin said. “She’s just like all the players on our team where they find away to score if nobody else is.”
That score would stand for almost half way through the second quarter. Martinis then heated up with a three-pointer as she scored all of her game-high 11 points in the second and third quarters, helping the Tommies earn a 32-19 lead going into the fourth quarter.
What is becoming this team’s trademark, Marysville relied on it’s hard-nosed, full-court pressure to force turnovers and shorten Snohomish’s possessions.
“I’m glad we were scrappy on defense,” Martin said. “We weren’t very energetic on offense and our flow wasn’t really there.”
Marysville would extend its lead in the fourth to reach as high as 21 points before claiming victory.
Off to one of the best starts in school history, Martin felt her team hasn’t received much recognition.
“We’re kind of under the radar still,” she said — without complaining. “We’ve still got to keep working our tails off, but I think most people aren’t seeing us as the team to beat yet. And I don’t think 9-1 has really set into our girls yet either.”
The Tomahawks had four players score six or more. Along with Martinis, Hannon Watson added seven and Heckendorf and Oden scored six a piece.
