LYNNWOOD — The Eagles showed they have to figure out how to play when the tempo slows down.
In a 69-61 loss to Lynnwood, Dec.2, Arlington boy’s hoops came out fast and furious, but couldn’t maintain the pace.
“We got a little tired, and you have to hand it to Lynnwood, they played a great game,” said Arlington coach Nick Brown.
A combination of free throws and layups helped Arlington score 26 points in the first quarter. The Eagles made just one jumper in the first eight minutes to own a 26-14 lead.
The second quarter, however, brought an entirely different speed of play, and Arlington’s defense frequently found themselves in the wrong spot.
“We stopped getting turnovers on defense,” Brown said. “And once that stopped, the game really slowed down.”
And Lynnwood took advantage, although it seemed like only senior Anthony Edwards would benefit from the slower pace. The senior small forward showed off a deadly mid-range game to pour in 21 first-half points.
“He’s a great player,” said Brown of Edwards. “We had a hard time staying in front of him and finding him.”
The Eagles spent the second half following Edwards around, but often leaving other shooters open, and paid for it, as six Royals combined to make 11 treys.
“We definitely didn’t do a very good job of finding their shooters on the floor,” said Brown.
The defensive highlight for the Eagles was senior Connor Cummings who seemed to be the only player able to slow down Edwards, who ended up with 31 points.
“Connor did a fantastic job for us,” said Brown of Cummings’ effort in the third quarter.
Leading the Eagles in scoring was Eric Carlson with 15 points while Griffin Ginnis added 11.
Frustration took over the Eagles in the second quarter as the Royals went on runs of 10-0 and 10-4 to tie the score at 34-34 by halftime.
“We definitely got frustrated because we want to be a really good team —and we’ll get there — but we still have some work to do to get there,” said Brown. “But we want to beat everybody by 20 when we should be concentrating on beating them by one.”
Arlington opened its season with a 77-49 victory over Everett Nov. 30.
