ARLINGTON — Somebody different has been the go-to player for Arlington in each of its previous seven contests — all wins.
During a 60-35 Wesco North win over Snohomish Jan. 13, that responsibility was on Tiffany Daggett, and she proved to be up to the task.
“I didn’t finish my layins last game (Jan. 11 vs. Everett) and I think about what I need to work on before the next game instead of getting nervous,” said Daggett, who scored a career high 12 points.
Daggett converted her layins, and was instrumental in a lady Eagles’ medium-range attack that vaulted them to a 30-10 lead midway through the second quarter.
“The biggest thing is Daggett knocked down her open looks,” said Arlington coach Nathan Davis. “That was huge for us tonight.”
The senior post scored half of her points in the first four minutes, while the Eagles’ defense smothered the Panthers.
“Katie Ferro had a great night for us, coming off the bench defensively,” Davis said.
As is accustomed in basketball, Snohomish countered with a run to bring a once 20-point Arlington advantage down to 12 just before halftime. They played relatively even in the third quarter, and Arlington opened the fourth with consecutive three-point conversions by Ferro and sophomore guard Megan Abdo.
Eventually, the Eagles showed how they were able put together seven straight wins, scoring 17 in the fourth quarter to earn a 5-3 conference record overall, and a tie for third place with Lake Stevens, which was later broken during the week in a 43-37 loss to the Vikings Jan. 15.
Also contributing to Arlington’s cause against Snohomish was Ginny Wilson, who had four points and nine rebounds, while Abdo, Quinn Kesselring and Lexi Sarver added eight points a piece.
With such a balanced attack Davis has been pleased with its ability to find a key contributor every night, but said it’s harder on the players.
“I think they wonder which night it will be on them,” he said. “And when you play 12 girls, it’s hard to show that it’s your night when you don’t play a lot of minutes.”
Daggett says that the team’s trip to a holiday tournament in Bellingham Dec. 29-30 is when something clicked.
“It all started when we went to Squalicum,” she said. “We were sharing the ball and getting it out quick and into the fast break. We realized that this works.”
Wilson also led the Eagles with seven points against Lake Stevens later in the week. Arlington takes a week off, but will resume Wesco North play against Stanwood Jan. 22.
