STANWOOD — For Stanwood girls basketball coach Dustin Swanson, Friday night was about as good as it gets.
In front of a raucous home crowd, with the University of Washington Husky Pep Band making a guest appearance, the only thing remaining on the list was revenge against Snohomish.
The Spartans checked that box with a 52-50, hard-fought Wesc0 3A/2A win to avenge their only league loss of the season. Stanwood improved to 16-3 overall while tying Snohomish at 8-1 atop the league standings.
“To have a great, great opponent like Snohomish that beat us the last time we played with a packed gym… Husky Band, it’s really a special memory for these girls,” said Swanson, whose team won its seventh straight after a 62-49 loss at Snohomish on Jan. 9. “I’m really happy for our two seniors Ava (DePew) and Jaz (Jazmyn Legg). This will be a memory for them. When they’re done playing, they’ll remember this one.”
The Panthers (13-6, 8-1) paid close attention to Legg, a 3-point marksman, on the perimeter, so the 5-foot-9 senior guard put the ball on the floor to score many of her 20 points in the paint.
In a physical, defensive game, Legg’s tough hoops and 7-for-8 shooting from the free throw stripe kept Stanwood on top from early in the second quarter when her driving layup gave the Spartans a 13-11 lead they never relinquished.
“We played better as a team this game with our rebounding and our defensive intensity — we were able to pick that up,” said Legg, who hit a school-record nine 3s in a game earlier this season. “… I’ve trained with a lot of the (Snohomish) girls, so they know I can shoot it, so switching it up I thought was a good way to combat that.”
Ella Wortham helped Stanwood’s cause with 13 points. DePew, responsible for much of the ballhandling against Snohomish’s aggressive defense, contributed 11.
Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles led Snohomish with 13 points, while Sienna Capelli added 12.
While Spartans excitement filled the gymnasium, a quiet Stanwood gym hallway housed Snohomish coach Ken Roberts, whose team missed out on clinching the league title on Friday. Shortly after the Stanwood and UW bands played “Celebration,” Roberts sat in the hall outside the visiting locker room, searching for answers.
His Panthers, who finished fifth in the Class 3A state tournament last season, cut Stanwood’s lead two points three times in the second half — including a 41-39 deficit after Kendall Hammer drilled a 3 with 4:44 to go. Snohomish, though, gave up Legg’s lone 3 followed by Worthams’s Euro-step layup. The Panthers were unable to get closer than four points prior to scoring the final two in the last second.
“They played a lot harder than we did,” said Roberts, who saw his team’s five-game winning streak snapped. “They worked harder early. We wouldn’t go down to the block and post up because they were being physical with us.
“Their kids took us out of everything we wanted to do and we weren’t tough enough to handle it.”
The early part of the game featured tough defense by both teams.
It took three minutes to get to a 2-2 score. Legg took control from there, scoring 13 points during a 10-minute span, and the Spartans never trailed again.
“Jazmyn can do it all,” Swanson said. “She’s an electric 3-point shooter, but if teams take it away she’ll put in on the deck, she’ll get to the free throw line, she’ll finish. … She’s a complete player. She was D-ing it up and rebounding, too.”
With two regular-season games remaining, both teams have clinched a first-round bye for the District 3A tournament, where they’ll begin play on their home courts on Feb. 14.
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