BY TRAVIS SHERER
sports@marysvilleglobe.com
ARLINGTON — Despite a 59-52 loss, coach Nathan Davis thought he saw his team’s best basketball Dec. 18.
“This was our best effort,” Davis said. “So far this year, I’ve felt like we’re always in a learning mode in the offense and with each other. Tonight the girls played inspired basketball.”
An extra push to get better might be expected in playing rival Marysville-Pilchuck, but Arlington showed its potential in a 25-11, third-quarter run.
“We just executed our offense better and changed up our defense to make someone other than their best players score,” Davis said.
With two of the Tomahawks’ top players on the bench because of foul trouble, Davis changed his team’s defense to a diamond-plus-one to shadow Morgan Martinis.
The result was a run that ended up earning a 49-47 lead halfway through the fourth quarter.
Also, Eagles seniors Quinn Kesselring and Ginny Wilson led the charge offensively by putting pressure on the Tomahawk defense and getting to the free throw line.
From then, however, the Tomahawks took over, making their next handful of shots and six consecutive free throws to put it away.
had three players score at least nine points, was Ginny Wilson with 12.
“We used her differently tonight, coming off the bench,” he said. “But when she went into the game, she hit some shots immediately.”
Wilson added seven rebounds.
Davis noted Lexi Sarver’s effort off the bench as being crucial to Arlington’s comeback.
“As a sophomore, to come in and help us get right back into the game, she really impressed me,” Davis said. “She played some big minutes in a big game.”
Sarver had 10 points.
The loss showed the difference in seasons with Arlington still searching for its first Wesco Conference victory (0-3) and Marysville (5-0) undefeated thus far.
“They are a good team, but everybody is near the same in this league,” Davis said. “It’s just a matter of how much we can improve in order to start winning in January.”
The Eagles take a break for a week and resume play again in a tournament at Squalicum High School in Bellingham Dec. 29-30.
