SEDRO-WOOLLEY – Looking a lot like the same team that blew through three state tournament opponents last year on their way to a second place trophy, the Burlington-Edison Tigers sprinted to an early 10-1 lead on their way to overpowering Sedro-Woolley 92-37 Saturday night in boys’ high school basketball.
The game was a reflection of the current overall state of both schools’ programs, as Burlington-Edison is in the midst of possibly the best run of teams in school history, with consecutive appearances in the state championship game, while the inexperienced Cubs are in the second year of a rebuilding process.
Starting five seniors, including one of the state’s premier point guards in Evan Coulter, the Tigers showed rare season-opening poise in overcoming an injury to senior guard Craig Babington just 14-seconds into the game. Babington sustained a sprain to his left ankle that was described as a level one, which usually require 7-10 days to heal.
With Coulter scoring 32 points and Colin Stewart adding 19 to lead four Tigers in double figures, and Burlington-Edison’s pressure defense forcing an unofficial 17 first-half turnovers, coach Rick Skeen’s team had sealed the fate of Sedro-Woolley by halftime when they led 43-11.
“We played a little short-handed”, said Skeen in referring not only to Babington’s ankle sprain but also to the absence of potential starters Jacob Schifferl and Eric Walser, “I thought the guys who were out there played really hard.”
To Sedro-Woolley’s credit, the Cubs hustled to the final buzzer and gave a glimpse of their potential in the third quarter when they played the powerful Tigers even until Coulter’s three-point buzzer beater gave Burlington-Edison an 18-15 advantage in the period.
The Tigers’ aggressive and sometimes smothering defense held Levi Stewart to just seven points after the Sedro-Woolley senior had averaged more than 20 in the Cubs’ first two games of the season. Stewart and Kellen Engberg are the only seniors seeing significant playing time for the Cubs, who were led by sophomore Isaac Bianchini’s 15 points.
You can listen to a free replay of the game featuring the call by John Fasso and Joe Thurmond below:
You can also download a free copy of last night’s game by “right clicking” the link below and selecting “Save Link As:”
Boys Basketball - Burlington-Edison at Sedro-Woolley - Download File (87)
Burlington-Edison will host Oak Harbor Tuesday, December 8, and we’ll webcast the game live on SkagitRadio.com with John Fasso providing play-by-play. John was joined on our webcast of the Burlington-Edison vs. Sedro-Woolley game by Joe Thurmond, who will adding commentary on Tigers’ basketball throughout the season on SkagitRadio.com.
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