MARYSVILLE — Tomahawk boys basketball hosted 4A North fifth-place Arlington on Jan. 24 seeking vengeance for the 75-50 drubbing they suffered at Arlington on Dec. 9.
The last-place Tomahawks brought a playoff intensity as they sought to derail Arlington’s postseason plans, but the Eagles held on late for a hard-fought, 44-34 win.
“They’re definitely playing better,” said Arlington head coach Nick Brown of the M-P squad that suffered yet another narrow defeat yet refused to hang their heads. “They’re so physical and strong. It was a slugfest and both teams played hard.”
Arlington opened the game with a full-court press to keep the Tomahawks off-balance, but M-P fought through it and senior post Calvin White’s put-back put his team on the board first. Tomahawk senior guard Dominique Kiblinger earned a trip to the free-throw line with a strong layup shortly after.
Arlington junior guard Terry Dawn converted a layup and hit a turnaround fader from just inside the left three-point line moments later to kick-start the Eagle offense. Senior guard Tanner Goheen beat M-P senior post Philip DeSanctis from the left off of a half-court breakaway.
Tomahawk junior wing Jalen Apel-Henderson bumped up and inside on the left block for a lay-in before Arlington senior guard Conner Davis nailed a three from top left of arc.
M-P senior guard Nathan Williams rebounded Goheen’s missed three-pointer and took it the length of the court for a layup, a foul and a free throw. Goheen returned for a tough layup from the right and junior post Dan Boyden hit a three-pointer from top of line to take an 18-10 lead and force an M-P timeout with 7:32 remaining in the second quarter.
Both defenses tightened up and Arlington’s threes stop falling as two threes from Davis drew iron, as did Dawn’s and sophomore guard Kaleb Bryson’s.
“Dom was locking down Terry Dawn, the best player on their team,” White said.
Kiblinger recorded a monster block beneath the right of the basket that stirred up the crowd. DeSanctis took the ball up and in through the paint for a score and Kiblinger barreled up and into the defense for a layup from right. Apel-Henderson hit a three from the top right to cut Arlington’s lead to 24-17 and force an Eagle timeout with 2:19 until halftime.
Dawn missed a three-pointer from the left but grabbed his own rebound for a scoop-and-score layup from the left. Dawn and Davis looked to get back on track with threes but both attempts missed.
Kiblinger skipped the ball across the court to M-P senior guard Nathan Williams who beat the halftime buzzer with a layup to trail 28-19 at halftime.
Dawn missed another three-pointer and Kiblinger took advantage for a score on the other end of the floor. Arlington took another timeout, lead down to six at 28-22 with 5:12 left in the third quarter.
M-P broke Arlington’s full-court press and DeSanctis went up strong for a shot in the left of the paint. Eagle junior guard AJ Passalacqua answered with a short basket from the left.
Arlington’s defense bore down on DeSanctis in the paint as Boyden and senior post Bo Brummel combined to block his turnaround jumper. Boyden muscled up in key on the other end for a lay-in from the left block and a 33-25 Arlington lead at the end of the third quarter.
“Don’t be selfish,” said Tomahawk head coach Bary Gould to his resilient squad. “Pass up a good shot for a great shot.”
The Tomahawks moved the ball much better instead of settling for quick shots against Arlington’s 2-3 zone though they went cold from three-point range. White put an offensive rebound back up and in for the score.
Missed free throws threatened to kill Arlington’s lead, but Dawn beat the Tomahawks’ man defense and powered in for a layup from the left and the Eagles led 40-34 with three minutes remaining in regulation.
Boyden was fouled in the paint and made both free throws with 2:37 remaining. Dawn missed a three-pointer off of a Davis steal, from which M-P could not find a bucket, with 1:57 left but Arlington swung the ball to wind down the clock. Dawn missed a 1-and-1 free throw and Arlington turned the ball over in the paint. M-P took a timeout trailing 42-34 with 40 seconds left.
Kiblinger’s three-pointer wouldn’t fall and Dawn was fouled and hit both free throws for a 44-34 lead.
The Tomahawks missed their final shot and the Eagles swung the ball around halfcourt to run out the clock for their 44-34 win.
“We need to block out better and that’s a fact,” Gould said. “As a team they killed us in rebounding. They got second and third chances and killed us on the offensive glass. It’s a guard, forward and post problem. The other thing is that we had to make free throws. There’s something attractive about guys who don’t give up, and people like to see that,” said Gould of the game’s crowd, the largest he’d seen in his M-P coaching career.
