Austin Mckay’s 22 points led Sehome boys basketball to a 79-68 win against Meridian on Thursday, Dec. 7 at Sehome High School.
Mckay, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, helped the Mariners (2-1) to their second straight victory after dropping their season opener. The Trojans (2-1) had a two-game win streak snapped after beginning the season with consecutive victories.
Mckay began his big night by grabbing three offensive rebounds on the first two possessions before freshman guard Quincy Tanovan, who earned his first career start for the Mariners, knocked down the first shot of the game when he swished a 3-pointer from the wing.
Sophomore guard Nolan Wright was able to break down the Trojans’ press and zone to get the Mariners’ offense going. The teams traded baskets and Meridian took a 14-12 lead after the first.
The second quarter was more of the same as both teams’ offenses were efficient but struggled to gain momentum. After a deep 3-pointer from Meridian’s Jaeger Fyfe, Sehome retook the lead when Wright sent a Meridian player to the ground with a crossover and found Mckay who knocked down a 3-pointer of his own.
Meridian took a narrow 31-30 lead into the second half.
The Trojans grabbed the momentum, taking a 36-30 lead, which made Sehome head coach Brad Jackson call a timeout.
Jackson’s team responded by scoring the next nine points. Sehome was able to stay composed the whole game after Meridian switched between a full court press, a 2-3 zone, a 3-2 zone and man- to- man defense.
“Our guys are really level-headed guys,” Jackson said. “We have a really good floor leader in Nolan. He is a quarterback at heart.”
Mckay found an opening, hitting a near buzzer-beating 3-pointer to increase the lead to 48-44 at the end of the third.
To open the fourth, Tanovan hit one of his four 3-pointers on the night to gain a little separation from the Trojans.
The game stayed close when Meridian junior Talon Jenkins started to take over. Jenkins finished with a game-high 30 points and scored 20 of his points in the second half.
He knocked down a 3-pointer, got a three-point play and sunk another 3-pointer in a two-minute stretch to start the fourth quarter.
Sehome achieved its biggest lead of the night after Mckay hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game. An injury to Jacob Amundson after an accidental elbow gave the Trojans a little fight.
Meridian cut the lead to three at 71-68 before a layup and six free throws sealed the deal for the Mariners.
Jackson said the biggest difference between the Mariners’ previous win versus Squalicum and the Meridian game was they just made baskets. The zone defense also helped them be patient.
The Mariners finished with four players in double figures. After Mckay, Wright had 20 with 11 made free throws, sophomore post Cole Turrell had 14 and the new addition to the starting lineup, Tanovan, had 13.
The Trojans only finished with two players in double figures. After the high scoring performance by Jenkins, Fyfe had 13 points.
“You never know what you are going to get on any given night in this league,” Meridian head coach Shane Stacy said, “and I think it is good for our team to understand that.”
Stacy also wants to continue their press defense but wants to avoid the foul trouble they got into against Sehome in future games.
“We just gotta keep our hands off of them,” he said.
Sehome is back in action Saturday, Dec. 9 when the team hits the road to play Mariner High School. Meridian returns home Monday, Dec. 11 to bounce back from the loss against Ferndale High School.
