ARLINGTON — Arlington basketball, back for a new season with five seniors after reaching the state tournament last year, hosted an upstart Marysville Getchell team in their season opener on Nov. 29.

The Chargers came out swinging in the first half, but the more experienced Arlington squad found their basketball legs and took control late in the game for a 70-53 win.

Getchell sprung out to an 15-6 lead to end the first quarter with sharp perimeter shooting to show the Arlington crowd that they meant business.

Arlington came alive and flexed its muscles in the paint to pull within three at 18-15 with four and a half minutes left in the second quarter.

“We got confident, something we didn’t do at the (Garfield) jamboree (in Seattle),” said Eagle senior center DJ Smith of his team’s second-quarter awakening.

The Eagles outscored Getchell 19-9 in the second quarter before Eagle junior guard Terry Dawn scored a go-ahead tip-in as time expired in the first half to give his team its first lead, 25-24.

“We got the first-game jitters out of everyone,” Dawn said. “We tried really hard and brought it back. We came together. The confidence wasn’t high at the start, but we got it together.”

The Chargers played stiff man-to-man defense in the second half, but time and again the Eagles burned Getchell with open three-pointers. Arlington led 50-44 at the end of the third quarter, preventing the Chargers from driving to the basket and forcing one-shot possessions.

The Eagles gained a distinct edge in defensive rebounding and outscored the Chargers 20-9 in the fourth, seizing a 57-49 lead with four minutes left in the game and keeping their zone immovable to cruise to a 70-53 win.

Junior post Dan Boyden scored 21 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and recorded four assists. Senior Bo Brummel notched 14 points and 10 rebounds to stay strong in the post to keep Getchell off-balance throughout the game. Dawn scored 15 of his 29 points on three-pointers, snagged seven rebounds and dished out four assists.