BLAINE – After trailing for the majority of the game, a layup by junior forward Garrett Smith gave Mount Baker a 48-46 lead with 4:52 remaining in the contest. The Mountaineers and the Borderites battled back and forth, but it was the jump shooting by senior Jason Lee that held the lead for the Mounties.
An eventual steal by Smith, followed by a deep outlet pass to junior Braedan Hart for another layup, put the Mountaineers in a 58-52 advantage with 1:15 left. Baker would hold on to beat the Borderites to get its first conference victory of the season 61-56 at Blaine High School on Thursday night.
“That final quarter was all about the kids playing hard and playing together,” said the 25-year old 1st year Mount Baker coach Ben Zakheim. “I just threw the X’s and O’s out the window, and let them just play, and they responded.”
The Borderites jumped out to an early lead, but a strong second quarter by Hart gave Mount Baker a narrow 29-27 lead at half time. Hart scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter, including three 3-pointers.
“My teammates were able to set great screens for me to run off of, and I had some really good looks,” Hart said. “Blaine’s a really good team, and I have to give a shout out to Zane Rector. He did such a great job tonight.”
Rector led the Borderites with 16 points, with the majority of them coming from the free throw line. He also pulled down five rebounds.
Mount Baker was also hindered when senior Truman Anderson picked up his third foul early in the second quarter, and was relegated to the bench until late in the third quarter. His outstanding leaping ability was in full force in the final period when he pulled down six of his game-high 12 rebounds, including multiple offensive boards to keep possessions alive.
The Mountaineers outscored Blaine 21-10 in the fourth quarter.
Borderite junior Josh Russ had a very impressive game with 13 points scored, and he led his team in rebounds (9), steals (8), assists (2) and blocks (1). Sophomore Scott Baldwin also chipped in with 13 points.
Smith was the main stat-stuffer for Mount Baker with 15 points, five rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocks. Lee also scored in double digits with 11 points.
The Mountaineers (4-11 overall, 1-7 Northwest Conference) will host Sedro Woolley (6-9, 1-7) on Monday night at 7:15, and Blaine (9-6, 3-5) will host Anacortes (7-4, 3-3) on Tuesday night at 7:15.
Mount Baker 61, Blaine 56
MB 10 19 11 21 — 61
BLA 15 12 19 10 — 56
MB: Jacoby 3, Smith 15, Corning 2, Rodriguez 5, Hart 15, Anderson 6, Figueroa 0, Lee 11.
BLA: Russ 13, Rector 16, Kuoppala 8, Thomas 2, Baldwin 13, Vega 2, Bleazard 2, Arps 0.
3-Pointers: MB 5 (Hart 3, Jacoby, Smith); BLA 7 (Russ 2, Kuoppala 2, Baldwin 2, Rector). Rebounds: MB 35 (Anderson 12); BLA 35 (Russ 9). Assists: MB 17 (Rodriguez 4, Lee 4); BLA 7 (Russ 2). Steals: MB 10 (Smith 4); BLA 12 (Russ 8). Blocks: MB 3 (Smith 2); BLA 1 (Russ 1)
