MARYSVILLE — Marysville-Pilchuck’s 44-39 win over Cascade Dec. 9 embodied the old adage that basketball is a game of runs.

“That fighting spirit was definitely on display out there for both sides,” said Tomahawks coach Julie Martin. “This is a great win for us.”

In an emotional game that netted the first Wesco win for Marysville (2-1 overall), the Tomahawks took the lead for good behind a pair of timely treys by Andi Adams, making the score 42-39 with less than a minute to play.

“I’m really happy to hit those threes, but it could have been any one of us,” Adams said.

Adams’ first three in the fourth quarter gave the Tomahawks their first lead of the second half at 32-31 with four minutes to play. The three-pointer was part of a 17-3 run beginning in the third quarter and relying on turnovers from an extended box-and-one, full-court press with Adams pressuring the guards.

“My job was to put pressure on them and force sideline,” Adams said.

That pressure, and the ensuing half-court traps, led to a number of late turnovers and made a Tommie comeback possible. That sound strategy put the Bruins out of their comfort zone, and kept the ball out of Danielle Love’s hands.

“She was our main focus and I think the girls did a great job forcing everything away from her,” Martin said. “I felt like we shut her down really well.”

When the Bruins could find Love, a 6-5 forward who will play for the University of Oregon next year, they made runs, starting with 13-3 stretch to open the game.

The Tomahawks countered to take a short-lived 18-15 lead in the second quarter, only to watch Love score 12 straight of a 13-2 Bruins stint. She finished with 16 points.

Things looked dismal for M-P with a minute left in the third quarter, and the score 27-18, before Adams converted on a lay-in while being fouled. She then hit a jumper just after a Dacia Heckendorf lay-in and before the buzzer. Adams scored seven of her team-high 12 points in that 17-3 run.

The Tomahawks had four players with eight or more points, including Morgan Martinis (seven), Emily Enberg (eight) and Becca Lentz, who had nine points and eight steals.

Cascade tied the score at 37-37 with two and a half minutes to play behind an 8-0 run, but consecutive scores by Heckendorf, Adams and Martinis netted a 7-0 counterpunch.

Defense was the key to Marysville’s 20-point fourth quarter, a period where the majority of Cascade’s possessions did not end in a shot attempt.

“We’re lucky because we have a group or really fast athletes that get after it,” Martin said. “And they work together to put pressure on the other team.”

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