Marysville — Marysville-Pilchuck boys basketball was defeated by Everett, 56-53, on Feb. 5. Victory was in reach for the Tomahawks, but a couple of faulty defensive plays allowed Everett to escape with the win.

The Tomahawks were looking to take the second seed in the playoffs by defeating Everett, which was ranked second in Wesco 3A North. “We made some unforced errors,” M-P head coach Bary Gould said. “We took some questionable shots, and we maybe should’ve been a little more cautious.”

Despite the loss, M-P managed to clinch a playoff spot when Marysville Getchell beat Oak Harbor the same night. “Oak Harbor played Getchell tonight, and Oak Harbor was going to be the team on Friday we had to play a playoff game against,” Gould said. “But Getchell ended up winning that game, so now we’re in the third seed in the playoffs.”

M-P has already defeated MG twice in the regular season. “The [MG and Oak Harbor] game was for second place, and if Oak Harbor would have won ,they would have also been in third, so then we would have to face them in a playoff game,” Gould said. “When they came here, they beat us, and we went there, we beat them. Now we don’t have to, because Getchell beat them.”

With M-P guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, Gould said the Tomahawks must cut down on their in-game errors. “We can’t play like we did right there,” Gould said. “It’s our goal to get in the playoffs every year.”

The Tomahawks did have highlights, putting their shooting skills on display as they competed against the No. 2 team in 3A Wesco North.

Sophomore guard Josh Bevan was M-P’s highest scorer. Bevan hit for 13 points, with nine of those from three-pointers.

Junior guard Cole Grinde proved to be a sharpshooter as well, as he matched Bevan’s three-point scoring. Grinde scored nine points in the game.

Second in M-P scoring was junior wing Michael Painter, who scored 11 points. Painter hit two three-pointers in the game.

The first quarter did not start so well for M-P. Both teams were slow to warm up in scoring, but Everett got on the board first.

M-P sophomore Bryce Juneau hit both of his free throws to tie the score to 2-2. After a brief Tomahawk run, M-P found itself in the lead, 5-2, only to have Everett tie it again, and then take the lead.

Everett led at the end of the first quarter 13-7.

M-P came back to take control of the second quarter by scoring 18 points to Everett’s nine. The Tomahawks slowly climbed their way back to the top by scoring consistently and hitting threes. By halftime, the Tomahawks led Everett, 25-22.

After halftime, Everett went back on top in the third quarter. In the third quarter, M-P and Everett traded goals, but Everett was getting the better of the two. Everett outscored M-P in the third quarter by six. Within the third quarter, Everett managed to put M-P in a hole at 40-35. M-P’s Juneau got one more goal in for M-P before the third quarter ended. Everett led M-P 40-37 as the third quarter ended.

In their final quarter effort, M-P was able to gain a 50-43 lead. M-P was unable to hold the lead as Everett scored nine more points to M-P’s three. Everett won 56-53.

As of Feb. 8, M-P is 5-8 in conference and 8-11 overall. M-P is No. 3 in Wesco 3A North.