LAKE STEVENS — While most will remember who made the game-winning shot, it was Dacia Heckendorf who kept the Tommies in the game when they needed it most.
The Marysville-Pilchuck girls hoops team overcame some early jitters to knock off previously undefeated Lake Stevens, 54-47, in Wesco North action Dec. 22.
“We really needed this one,” said Heckendorf. “And everybody just sort of came together in the end to support each other.”
That may have been the case, but M-P would have had a difficult time coming back against the Vikings (4-1 Wesco North), who are sitting atop the conference standings, without Heckendorf.
A flustered Tommies team often tried to convert turnovers into points too quickly, falling victim to giving the ball right back to one of the Pahukoa twins within seconds of getting the ball.
But keeping her head was Heckendorf, who scored nine straight points for the Tommies, and 11 of her 19 in the first half to keep her team within striking distance, trailing 25-22 at halftime.
“I think we got a little frustrated because that gym is so small, you can hear everything,” she said. “It’s just so loud.”
The second half, however, saw the Lady Tomahawks return to form as a number of players rose to the occasion when their teammates desperately needed it. In the third quarter, Becca Lentz had a handful of steals and hit a pair of 3-pointers in four minutes to help M-P grab its first lead since the early in the second quarter at 39-37.
“We really decided to slow things down at halftime and play our game,” said M-P coach Julie Martin. “So we made sure we were getting the shots we wanted.”
But the Vikings came back to take a 45-40 advantage on the heels of a technical foul. From there on out, however, it was all Tommies. Lentz hit another trey to start a 10-0 M-P run and Lake Stevens’ physical play caught up with them as they were in the bonus with six minutes remaining in regulation, allowing the Tommies to get at least one point on every foul. That foul trouble also knocked out Brittany and Brooke Pahukoa at times, leaving a less hectic pace on the court.
Andi Adams then hit a trey to give M-P back the lead a 46-45 with 2:40 remaining that it would not relinquish.
The win is the fourth straight for M-P (5-2, 3-2), and Martin said that she saw a difference in the team after losing to Arlington 49-43, Dec. 10.
“We really started to regain that togetherness that we had last year, because up until then, we had just been playing more like a bunch of individuals out there,” she said. “When I got back (from having a baby), I couldn’t tell who this team was.”
Lentz added 14 points and Adams had 10 for M-P, which travels to Burlington-Edison for a nonconference game Dec. 30.
