ARLINGTON — The first regular season game for the Arlington Eagles boys basketball finished in a 58-43 win against the visiting Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks on Tuesday, Nov. 27, at AHS.

The Eagles’ 6-foot-5 senior Terry Dawn is the only returning starter, and scored the most points during the game at 16. His teammates, 6-foot-1 senior  AJ Passalaqua and 6-foot-5 junior Noah Jones, also scored in the double digits with 13 points each.

Marysville-Pilchuck took a three-point lead in the first quarter, but the Eagles brought it back to a 25-21 lead going into halftime. The second half of the game sealed the deal for Arlington, as they scored double the points as the Tomahawks did in the third quarter and another 19 points in the fourth quarter to maintain their lead and capture a 58-43 victory.

Eight of the Eagles’ goals were three-pointers. Passalaqua scored three of the three-pointers, as did 5-foot-10 junior Gavin Smoke. Dawn and 6-foot junior Bradey Brummel scored one three-point goal each.

“I thought that all my players did pretty well,” said AHS head coach Nick Brown. “We didn’t do so well in the first half, we had a slow start with first game jitters. But we came out in the second half and our offense started building up a little bit and did a better job of sharing the ball, and we did a better job of staying in front of them and rerouting them.”

Brown was impressed with his starters’ performances.

“I thought AJ Passalaqua did a pretty good job of making some big shots when we needed him to,” he said. “Terry Dawn did a good job of being a leader on the floor and being a role model. Gavin Smoke made some great shots when we needed him to and, of course, Noah Jones did a really good job of getting the ball on the block and scoring. I thought we played pretty well, though not as well as we could have.”

Both teams began practice on Nov. 12. Brown is excited about his team’s show of strength in pre-season practice.

“I am very pleased with how we have done so far,” said Brown before the game. “We played in a jamboree at Garfield High School last Saturday. We competed against Clover Park and Mount Rainier High School. We outscored both teams in a ten-minute session against each of the two schools.”

Brown is happy to see the return of Dawn, who took time away from football to focus on basketball.

“He was all-league Wesco last year,” said Brown. “We also have senior AJ Passalaqua and juniors Noah Jones, Kaleb Bryson, Bradey Brummel and Gavin Smoke.”

Overall, the team is getting ready for the season and starting it off right with their victory over the Tomahawks.

“I love this group’s passion for basketball, competition, and this team and program,” said Brown. “I can’t say enough good about these young men. They not only are strong basketball players, they are excellent young men.”

The Eagles followed up their win over M-P, with a 61-48 victory over Everett High School on Thursday, Nov. 29, and another win over Marysville Getchell on Friday, Nov. 30. They now have a 3-0 overall record for the season.