One game does not a season make, but Coach Brad McKay liked what he saw when his Bellingham boys basketball team was unveiled Saturday night, Dec. 6.
The Bayhawks dominated visiting Marysville-Pilchuck from the opening minute and never let up until the running clock mercifully hit zero in their season-opening 71-24 non-league victory.
“We did everything we were hoping we would do,” said McKay. “All nine guys played significant minutes and we got contributions out of each one. That was good to see.”
With only two regulars returning from last season’s 8-14 team, no one — not even McKay — was sure what the Bayhawks would look like and how they would stack up against the Class 3A Tomahawks, who already had three games under their belts.
Granted, Marysville-Pilchuck was missing two starters Saturday night, but still…
Bellingham came out on fire on offense and fired-up on defense, taking a 19-1 lead against the shellshocked Tomahawks. After five minutes, Marysville-Pilchuck had called more timeouts (two) than they’d scored points.
“I was a little bit in shock,” said McKay, who wasn’t alone. “We attacked … that was the best part. We wanted to see them play hard, and they did, all nine guys.”
Bellingham’s tenacious man-to-man defense didn’t allow a Marysville-Pilchuck field goal until a minute and a half remained in the first quarter, which cut the Bayhawks’ lead to 19. The only other field goal the Tomahawks “scored” in the first half was an accidental tip-in by a Bellingham player. That cut the Bayhawks’ lead to only 29 points at halftime.
A 23-point Bellingham third quarter got the lead up to 40 and got the running clock going, and the Bayhawks completed their defensive exhibition by holding Marysville-Pilchuck to three points in the final period.
Leading the offensive onslaught was Bellingham’s all-league forward, Joe Harward. He had nine points and a thunderous dunk in the opening period, sat out almost all of the second period with foul trouble, and added a couple more dunks and 16 more points in the second half to finish with a game-high 25 points and 4 steals.
Even the uber-confident senior was shocked by the night’s events.
“I was generally surprised,” said the 6-4 Harward. “I was happy with the outcome, but surprised how well we played together as a team. Guys that hadn’t played a lot (on varsity) looked like they’d been there.”
Two of those guys were slender 6-foot-6 senior Barrett Johnson and rugged 6-foot guard Cyrus Campos, both of whom only saw limited playing time last season, but who looked like veterans Saturday night.
Johnson used hook shots and inside moves to score 12 points in the first period. Like the other starters, he sat out much of second half and still finished with 17 points. Campos crashed the boards and would add 10 points to the Bellingham cause.
Another “newcomer” was sophomore point guard Emmett Vanhouten, who was brought up from JV because of a season-ending injury to returning starter Myllo Wright. Vanhouten didn’t score but ran the offense efficiently and even had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Junior Calvin Van Hofwegen, the Bayhawks’ only other returning regular, had 7 points even though Bellingham didn’t need his 3-point shooting Saturday. Another senior, Luis Cuenca Medina added 6 points as seven of the nine Bayhawks scored.
While Saturday’s victory was a nice way to start the season, the Bayhawks know it was, after all, just one game. But still…
“Tonight got us excited and gives us confidence,” said Harward of being a Northwest Conference dark horse this season. “We just want to get better every day. We’re a nobody (in the NWC), but we’re looking forward to Wednesday.”
That’s when Bellingham hosts Blaine to begin conference play.
“We know that in our league, every night we have to attack and be better,” said McKay. “This was a good step.”
Bellingham 71, Marysville-Pilchuck 24
Marysville-Pilchuck 6 3 12 3—24
Bellingham 25 13 23 10—71
Marysville-Pilchuck: Taylor 7, Bohling 8, Sisk 3, Boatwright, Cheema 3, Rodriguez, Alghazali, Hayward 1, Moore, Sahi 2, Soren.
Bellingham: Loveland 3, Vanhouten, Campos 10, Harward 25, Vergillo, Johnson 17, McGerr 3, Van Hofwegen 7, Medina 6.
