SHS Boys' Basketball Defeated By MPHS Tomahawks
Written by Andrew Clemans, Staff Writer on Thursday, January 17, 2019
The Snohomish Panthers JV and C-team boys’ basketball teams played the Marysville Pilchuck Tomahawks last Wednesday night that resulted in a 64-50 varsity loss. The JV team secured a win while the C-team lost a controversial one-point game that led to a physical altercation between two parents from their respective teams.
The Panthers came out strong; starting the game off with a 7-2 run in which Marysville quickly responded with an 11-0 run, bringing the score up to 13-7 where they kept the lead for the rest of the game.
Senior forward Kolton Smith finished the day as the game’s top scorer with 23 points. However, it was 6’5” MPHS junior Raequan Battle, the four-star recruit and number 11 nationally ranked shooting guard in the nationwide class of 2019, and MPHS senior point guard Luke Dobler, an STSPN player of the game, who ultimately carried the Tomahawks to the win. Battle had signed a letter of intent in mid-November to play at the University of Washington.
Snohomish forward senior Tayte Connover fought a very hard game against Battle, who was held to just 18 points, 5 points under his average on the season. Still, Battle’s athleticism and ability to jump above the rim led to a few dunks including a reverse alley-oop and another alley-oop on a fast break, both coming off of passes by Dobler, who played limited minutes in his first game this season due to a very serious ligament injury in his foot.
“It was easy for me to get back on the floor because I have been playing with them since fourth grade,” said Dobler.
Freshman point-guard Josh Vandergriend performed well, and with a few more years to work on his shot, fundamentals, basketball IQ, and overall athleticism; Vandergriend, sophomore Grady Kentch, and other promising young players give Panther fans a lot of hope for the future.
The Tomahawks are currently number 7 in the Washington state RPI rankings and undefeated in WESCO at 9-0. Following the loss, the Panthers now sit at 5-8 with a 2-7 record in league play.