SNOHOMISH — The Jackson boys basketball team has had a lot of success against Snohomish for the past four seasons.
In fact, the Timberwolves — who have been to the 4A state tournament five consecutive seasons — have had a lot of success against everybody.
The Panthers got a little revenge Friday night with Snohomish’s disrupting defense leading the Panthers to a 57-38 victory over Jackson in a Wesco 4A contest at Snohomish High School.
The loss was the first against a league team for Jackson since a 54-52 defeat to Monroe on Jan. 12, 2012. The Timberwolves had won over 50 games in a row against league opponents — including postseason district tournaments — since.
“The last four years they had a really good group in there,” said Snohomish head coach Len Bone. “We probably beat them, prior to that, about as many times as they’ve beat us in the last four (years). So, maybe in the last 10 years we’re about .500. But they’ve definitely had the upper hand the last four years. They’ve definitely had our number. But they had everyone’s number.”
Jackson struggled shooting the ball almost from the start. The Timberwolves scored two points in the game’s first four minutes and made just one field goal in the second quarter.
Steve Johnson, Jackson’s head coach, attributed part of the struggles to the Panthers’ defensive pressure and part to having an off night offensively.
“I think we were 10-of-48 (21 percent) from the field,” Johnson said. “Anytime you have a shooting night like that you have to give some credit to the opponent — and I certainly will. But you also have to say, ‘Boy, we didn’t play very well.’ We had some open shots that we’ve been making — and can make — and didn’t make.”
Snohomish, meanwhile, did have offensive success to pull away early. Junior Jake Shogren came off the bench in the first quarter and promptly made a pair of 3-pointers and center Collin Kane had another strong showing with 17 points and 18 rebounds.
“I would say he’s for sure the top big guy in our league,” Bone said of Kane. “That definitely helps you. He’s been consistent and he’s a hard matchup.”
Mitch Morris scored 11 and grabbed six rebounds and Zak Carlson and Gus Baxter added eight apiece for Snohomish (7-2 league, 9-6 overall), which was eager to get a win against a Jackson team that beat the Panthers 70-59 when the teams played in December.
“It’s a great feeling. That’s a huge win for us,” Kane said. “We came into this game thinking: ‘This is our game. This is our house. There’s no way we’re going to let them beat us here.’ Jackson’s the biggest rival, I think, we have. It’s a big win for us. I was pretty excited.”
Snohomish held Jackson to a season-low 38 points, which the Timberwolves also scored in a game against the Panthers’ crosstown rival Glacier Peak in their season opener. The Panthers held junior Sam Saufferer, who netted 34 in the first game of the season series, to four points the second time around.
“He was a focal point because he’s a good player, but he was a focal point when we played over there too,” Bone said. “He’s a focal point, but so are three or four other perimeter players. We were fortunate tonight they didn’t shoot it as well as they can.”
“The first game we let them drive too much,” Kane added. “This time, we did a better job shutting them down. Especially locking down Sam.”
Yegor Gorbenko led Jackson (8-1, 10-5) with 13 points and four rebounds. Brian Brown added eight points for the Timberwolves — six of which came from the free-throw line.
“That’s the way it goes sometimes,” Johnson said. “We’ll watch the film and think about it. We obviously executed against the same defense much better, earlier. We had a ton of shots early in the game around the basket that we didn’t finish well and I think that got our confidence off a little bit.
“The key to the game, I feel, is when we’re down four and, even though we’re struggling so much offensively in the second quarter, and then we had just two or three breakdowns defensively. All of a sudden, it’s an 11-point game,” Johnson continued. “Then you’re scratching and clawing trying to climb uphill. … It just wasn’t a good night for the Wolves. You’ve got to give Snohomish some credit.”
Johnson said his team hopes to start a new winning streak against Lake Stevens on Tuesday.
“Someone told me (the league winning streak) was in the 50s, which is great,” Johnson said. “All good things must come to an end, I guess. I certainly like to win every game and we prepare and have an expectation to be successful. I’m not so sure going undefeated was the No. 1 goal of the season. We’re in first place. It’s going to be a battle with all of these teams. We have to maintain a focus on the big picture.”
At Snohomish H.S.
Jackson 9 8 10 11 — 38
Snohomish 13 15 13 16 — 57
Jackson—Frank Rossi 6, Dolan Tierney 2, Ian Willgress 0, Brian Brown 8, Markus Sullivan 0, Yegor Gorbenko 13, Connor Marschall 2, Ethan Hammond 0, Parker Manalo 0, Sam Saufferer 4, Colton Faddis 1, Brock Peterson 2. Snohomish—Tristan McGregor 0, Zak Carlson 8, Jake Shogren 6, Will Layton 0, Mitch Morris 11, Kobe McDaniel 2, Gus Baxter 8, Kole Bride 0, Andrew Kane 0, Peyton Plucker 0, Danny McGregor 0, Jake Perry 3, Collin Kane 17, Seth Cavin 2. 3-point goals—Rossi 1, Gorbenko 3, Shogren 2, Morris 1, Baxter 2, Perry 1. Records—Jackson 8-1 league, 10-5 overall. Snohomish 7-2, 9-6.
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