EVERETT — Down 22-8 in the second quarter, the Tomahawks kept fighting, and that’s all Marysville-Pilchuck boys basketball coach Bary Gould wanted.

“They came out and just proved they wanted to be here,” Gould said. “We just fell a little bit short.”

M-P fell to Everett 64-52 in a 3A district loser-out consolation game Feb. 15. Despite an ugly first period, M-P showed fight in the next three quarters, and at times, made it interesting.

“The first quarter was a bummer,” Gould said. “But we were able to battle back and make it a game.”

M-P caught up as close to 37-33 after landing 3’s in the third quarter by junior Josiah Gould and freshman Luke Dobler, but after that run, the Seagulls seemed to sustain a 10-12 point buffer through the remainder of the game before M-P could catch up.

The loss ended M-P’s season, but coach Gould said he was still pleased with the Tomahawks’ effort.

“We have to have known that we gave everything that we have,” Gould said. “I feel like we did that.”

Josiah Gould led M-P with 22 points, sophomore RaeQuan Battle scored 13 and Dobler added nine. The best part is Gould gets to have all those guys back next season.

“It’s super exciting to be able to have everyone back,” Gould said. “They know everything that we do, and we’ll hit the ground running right when we start again.”

They’ll keep practicing up until the state tournament is over, Gould said.

“We are literally starting a conditioning starting next week,” Gould said. “And then we’ll get guys that have experience now, I mean when you have good guards that can hit shots, we’re going to be just fine.”

M-P finished its season 11-12 overall.