Their comeback had been too little, too late against Meadowdale.

But the Arlington boys basketball took what went right in that game and funneled it into their first league games after the holidays, defeating Oak Harbor and Cascade to improve to 2-2 in league.

Even without captain Cole Carpenter, who was out for the two-game stretch with an injury, Arlington was firing on all cylinders.

With big contributions from the bench, Arlington clobbered Oak Harbor 60-35 in the Jan. 6 meeting.

“We put pressure on them and did really well. We got contributions from everyone,” said Arlington coach Nick Brown. Sophomore Zach Cooper led Arlington with 11 points and senior A.J. Richardson had 10, but everyone on the roster played and scored points.

The boys followed it with a 79-75 defeat of Cascade two nights later, overmatching league standout Chris McGrath’s 49-point performance.

Arlington seniors Lucas Larson and Will Heath carried the load for the Eagles in that match, combining for 44 points on the Bruins’ court.

“In the Meadowdale game I thought we played pretty well, but it wasn’t enough to get over that hump,” Brown said. “But we kept improving. We came from behind.”

He added of the Bruin standout’s school record-breaking performance, “I was not disappointed in our defensive play. Every shot he took, we had a hand in his face.”

Carpenter returned in Arlington’s loss to Snohomish Jan. 10.

“We do miss Cole and we want him back,” Brown said. “We’re hoping to put all the pieces in place.”