ARLINGTON — The Arlington boys basketball team has developed a habit of playing in close games this season.
Fortunately for the Eagles, they continue to win them.
Four of Arlington’s five victories this season have been by five points or less, with the Eagles’ latest a nail-biting 62-60 victory over Mountlake Terrace in a non-conference game at Arlington High School Tuesday night.
“We had 10 non-league games this year, so we’re just trying to fill our schedule. It just kind of worked out that every team that we’ve played so far has been tough,” said Arlington head coach Nick Brown. “We’ve had a pretty good run these last couple years and everyone brings their A-game against us. We feel that we’re going to get their best shot and we have so far.”
The Eagles led early in the contest but Mountlake Terrace continued to battle. The Hawks tied the score 34-34 before halftime and remained close to the Eagles throughout the second half.
After the two teams’ offenses performed well in the first three quarters, points were hard to come by in the fourth. Both teams scored just nine points in the final period, with Mountlake Terrace tying the score 60-60 after a Gabe Altenberger field goal and two free throws by Justin Hopkins with 1:14 to play.
A five-second call on the Hawks gave Arlington the ball back with 45 seconds and the Eagles capitalized with a running jump shot from Donavan Sellgren that proved to be the game-winner with 12 seconds remaining.
Sellgren, who normally wears jersey No. 4 for the Eagles, had to switch to No. 42 in the third quarter because of blood on his jersey. The change in jerseys didn’t affect Sellgren’s play; he led his team with a game-high 16 points.
“He just wants to play. For him, I’m really proud of Donavan and I really think he’s come a long way,” Brown said. “He’s a young guy — he’s only a junior. So we’re excited about the future for him.”
Drew Bryson scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds, Nathan Aune netted 12 points and five rebounds — including six straight points in a 23-second span to open the third quarter — and Brennon Wiersma added 10 points for Arlington (5-0).
“I think we have gamers,” Brown said. “We’re not very experienced yet but we have gamers. We have kids who want to play, who want to take the shot. … I can go all the way down the line. We got contributions from everyone.”
Altenberger led Mountlake Terrace (2-4) with 15 points. Derek Anyimah scored 11 points, Shimron Masih had 10 points and eight rebounds and Ryan LaCasse notched eight points and eight rebounds.
“We’ve never had a team this inexperienced, but I thought the kids showed a good fight against a really good basketball team — a really good program,” said Mountlake Terrace head coach Nalin Sood. “Coming up here and getting to play a game in that atmosphere — in that gym — there really is no other way to simulate it. … They’re a good basketball team and we’ve got to go compete against them, and I thought we did that for the most part.”
LaCasse was playing after popping his shoulder out of its socket in a game against Marysville Pilchuck on Dec. 5. LaCasse returned in the second half of that game and has continued to battle for the Hawks ever since.
“You want a picture in the dictionary next to ‘toughness’ it should be of Ryan. It’s just unbelievable how that guy competes,” Sood said. “I asked the guys the other day in practice, ‘If you had to bet $1,000 before a game that one thing would happen, what would it be?’ And the kids raised their hand (and said), ‘That Ryan will play tough.’”
Brown praised Sood and his Hawks, acknowledging that Mountlake Terrace is a tough team that Arlington couldn’t quite put away.
“They wouldn’t go away,” Brown said. “Those are the kind of teams you’ve got to be careful with. I always want to win but I want to make sure that we understand the value of the ball and the value of taking care of the ball. Nalin does an incredible job and those kids have improved, improved, improved, and they’re getting better and better. They exposed some of our weaknesses tonight.”
The Arlington coach said that although his team is undefeated this season, the Eagles’ fans still haven’t seen the best of the Arlington basketball team.
“We have so much room to grow,” Brown said. “I’m happy to be 5-0. Not to take anything away from anybody that we’ve played, but I feel like we have another gear in us. I really do.”
At Arlington H.S.
Mountlake Terrace 13 21 17 9 —60
Arlington 18 16 19 9 —62
Mountlake Terrace—Gabriel Powter 2, Daniel Johnson 0, Adam Lorraine 5, Ali Shah 0, Gabe Altenberger 15, Ryan LaCasse 8, Derek Anyimah 11, Shimron Masih 10, Justin Hopkins 9. Arlington—Tylor Morton 0, Donavan Sellgren 16, Nathan Aune 12, Cole Kingsberry 0, Connor Bovard 9, Drew Bryson 13, Brennon Wiersma 10, Jeremy Bishop 2. 3-point goals—Lorraine 1, Altenberger 2, Anyimah 2, Sellgren 3, Aune 1, Bovard 2, Bryson 2. Records—Mountlake Terrace 2-4 overall. Arlington 5-0.
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