By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
After their previous outing against King’s High School, the Tulalip Heritage boys basketball team was looking for a bounce back game when Shoreline Christian came to the Reservation on December 11.
“We’re still down a few players, but that shouldn’t be an issue for us in this matchup,” explained head coach Shawn Sanchey pregame. “I’ve called up players from junior varsity to fill out the bench. Those boys are hungry to get on the court. I’m hoping their energy becomes contagious and fuels our team to play at the pace and style we’re accustomed to.”
In the 1st quarter, senior guard Davien Parks put Heritage on the board with one of his patented, step-back 3-pointers. He scored three more jump shots in the quarter and assisted fellow senior Davis Bachand on a corner 3-pointer. Tulalip led 14-7 when a timely offensive board was tipped out to forward Tokala Black Tomahawk, who didn’t hesitate to shoot and convert on the uncontested three ball. Tulalip up 17-7 after one.
Tokala scored Heritage’s first points of the 2nd quarter when Davis found him alone in the corner for his second 3-point make. Leading 20-7, Heritage extended their lead to 32-11 with a combination of good ball movement and well-timed cuts to the basket. After Shoreline called a timeout to regroup with 2:30 left to play, Tulalip played good defense, secured a rebound and pushed tempo. This time, it was Tokala finding Davis in the corner for another 3-pointer, the seventh in the 1st half by Tulalip. The impressive perimeter shooting powered Tulalip to a 38-16 halftime lead.
At halftime, coach Shawn shared that the point of emphasis for the boys in the 2nd half would be their defense. They recognized that Shoreline only had one true ballhandler, and he was limited by his inability to dribble left. It was all right, all the time. The Heritage coaches challenged their boys to pick this player, one Daniel Abraham, up full court and not allow him to dribble right.
Multiple Hawks got their opportunity to guard Shoreline’s heart and soul. Collectively, from seniors Davis and Ziggy Myles-Gilford to sophomores Peyton Hatch and Deveyon Wells, the boys rose to the occasion to apply full-court pressure. Perhaps, most impressive of all, was Jaedynn Zackuse, who blanketed the Shoreline point guard like a lockdown corner in football. He played most of the 4th quarter, solely concerned with not giving up a bucket, and he didn’t. Shoreline’s Daniel Abraham only scored one bucket the entire 2nd half and failed to score any points in the 4th quarter.
With their defense playing at a high level, and the three balls continuing to fall, nine made in the 2nd half, Heritage soared past Shoreline. They outscored their opponent 38-10 over the 3rd and 4th quarters combined en route to a 76-26 victory. Davien led all scorers with 19 points, Tokala added 16 points, Davis added 12 points, and freshman Josh Davis joined the party by knocking down three 3-pointers.
After the game, coach Shawn said, “J.Z. (Jaedynn Zackuse) was an absolute dog for us tonight. We put him on Shoreline’s best player in the 4th quarter, and he responded by working hard and executing the game plan. This is a teachable moment for our team because we’ve been preaching that defense wins championships. If we’re going to reach our ultimate goal this year, then it’ll be because we are locked in on defense.”
The Hawks next home game is an out-of-league matchup with Wapato High School. Game scheduled for 5:00pm on Saturday, December 20, at Marysville Pilchuck.