Before the Sumner High boys’ basketball team tussled with the Lynden High bunch Friday night at Mount Tahoma in the regional, loser-out, “Sweet 16” round format of the Class 2A state tournament, a passerby tapped Spartan coach Brett McDaniel on the shoulder to wish him good fortune.
“Thanks, we are going to need some luck against these guys,” McDaniel said, fully aware of how well the Lions had played throughout the Whatcom County League season.
Maybe that’s why it was such a pleasant surprise for McDaniel and the throng off purple and gold fans in the T-Bird bleachers when the Spartans jumped all over the highly-touted Lions in the first few minutes of the wild encounter.
With more than half of the first quarter expired, the Lions had failed to notch a solitary point and trailed 15-0 as everything was going right for the Spartans.
The Lions came roaring back, though, after Sumner had been out front at the end of the first quarter 19-9. Disaster struck midway through the second stanza as Sumner’s 6-foot, 5-inch senior post Zeb Glissmeyer suddenly had racked up three personal fouls and was yanked from the contest.
After the Lions’ John Shine buried a 3-point bucket from the top of the key with two minutes remaining until intermission, LHS had come all the way back. As its players jogged into the locker room at the break, they were confident with a one-point upper hand as the scoreboard read 34-33.
The Sparts were outscored in the second half 30-22 and saw their season come to an end.
Four Spartans wound up scoring in double figures as the DeVries twins, Dan and Dave, accounted for 26 of Sumner’s final total and Glissmeyer and fellow senior Tyler Salisbury contributed 10 points apiece.
Coming into the big game Friday, Sumner appeared to be on somewhat of a roll as it had demolished White River 55-39 at Kent’s ShoWare Center Feb. 20, using a stingy zone defense against the Hornets in the West Central District title tilt. It was SHS’s first 2A district championship crown.
Sumner ended the SPSL 2A regular season as the bridesmaid behind Clover Park with an 11-3 league mark and wound up 21-5 overall.
