TACOMA — The Arlington community had a lot to celebrate last weekend, as both the boys and girls basketball teams competed at the 2013 Hardwood Classic State Basketball Championships at the Tacoma Dome, from Feb. 28 to March 2, and the boys took fifth place overall.
The Eagles began their state championship run with a victory over Richland in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Feb. 28.
Senior Terry Dawn led the scoring with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while junior Noah Jones scored 20 points and junior Kaleb Bryson scored 15 in the 72-60 victory.
“We came out ready to play,” said head coach Nick Brown. “After that first win, our kids were not satisfied. The team, coaches and staff agreed that we want more and we did our best.”
After their win over Richland, the Eagles advanced to a semifinal game against Jackson High School on Friday, March 1.
“Getting into the semifinals was huge for us,” said Brown. As another Wesco team that defeated Arlington twice in the season, the Timberwolves proved to be a tough competitor for Arlington.
The Eagles kept pace with scoring for the first part of the first quarter, tying the game at 10 points and scoring another two before the end of the quarter, but the Timberwolves put up another nine points to give them a 19-12 lead. The second quarter was big for Jackson, as they scored 25 points to Arlington’s nine. The 44-21 advantage at half-time helped Jackson take the victory, despite the Eagles scoring 18 points to Jackson’s 16 in the third quarter.
Dawn once again led the scoring with 17 points, while Bryson scored 15 points, junior Bradey Brummel scored five and Jones scored four. The Timberwolves went on to win second place after their March 2 loss to Curtis for the state title.
Arlington moved on to face Garfield for the third and fifth place game on March 2. They outscored the Bulldogs in the first quarter, 18-17, but fell behind them in the second when Garfield scored 21 points to Arlington’s 15. The Eagles battled back in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs again 19-16, but it would be the fourth quarter that clinched victory for Garfield as they put up another 26 points to Arlington’s 16, finishing the game with an 80-68 score.
Dawn scored 21 points, Jones scored 15, Brummel scored 12, Bryson scored 10, AJ Passalaqua scored seven, Nate Lewis scored two and Shawn Adams scored one.
“We were able to compete against these very respectable programs like Garfield, Curtis, Jackson,” said Brown. “We came ahead of Bothell. We showed that we belonged way further up.”
The game against Garfield was a big one for Dawn when he scored 21 points, breaking the Arlington High School all-time scoring record set in the 1970s and previously held by Brett Erickson.
“He broke it in the last few minutes of his career,” said Brown. “That was a great accomplishment.” Dawn scored 1,205 points in his career, while Erickson scored 1,202 points. Dawn is only the third Arlington basketball player to score more than 1,000 points.
“Arlington is an incredible community,” said Brown. “Our kids grow up playing together and going to school together and this was such a great experience for this community. I had numerous compliments on how the program played. Our kids played with class and I’m proud of that.”
Brown received the Coach of the Year award from the Tacoma News Tribune just before the Hardwood Classic began.
“I don’t like to take the spotlight, but I am honored and I appreciate it,” he said. “I’m just so proud of our community and our fans. My boys are a special group and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
