Boys basketball: Seniors Smarr, Bakken lead Warriors to win over Monroe

warrior-logoThe success of this season’s Edmonds-Woodway’s boys basketball team was centered around how well their two senior leaders would do. Tuesday against Monroe was proof that when those two succeed, so do the Warriors. Jason Smarr had a career-high 29 points and fellow senior Travis Bakken added 21 as E-W traveled to Monroe and took down the Bearcats 68-52. The win puts the Warriors over .500 for the first time this season.

The Warriors broke from the gate quickly, jumping to a 14-6 lead. Smarr scored 10 of the first 14, including two three-pointers. Hunter Bingham sliced through the lane for a layup for the Bearcats to stop the run, but Tate Budnick’s layup put the Warriors back up by eight. On Monroe’s ensuing possession, Bobcat guard Tyler Sharp went up for a jumper, but Smarr blocked the shot, got control of the ball and drove the length of the court for a dunk, giving the Warriors a 19-8 lead. The teams exchanged baskets and the first quarter ended up 23-11 in favor of the visiting Warriors, with Smarr scoring 16 to lead E-W.

The second saw the Warriors extend their lead, outscoring Monroe 12-10. Bakken had five points in the period, with two of his baskets coming off entry passes from Brady Edwards. Trey Holland also had five points in the quarter for E-W. As the teams left the court for halftime, it was 35-23 Warriors

Edmonds-Woodway kept the throttle down to start the third quarter as the Warriors scored the first six points before Bingham’s three-pointer stopped the run. It was too much Bakken though, with the post scoring 10 points in the quarter as the Warriors extended the lead to 53-37.

The fourth quarter saw the game become a bit sloppy, but still Smarr kept his touch, scoring eight more points including hitting both of his three pointers. On the night, Smarr made six of eight from beyond the arc as the Warriors kept Monroe at bay, keeping the lead at 16 as the game ended. Asked about his night and back-to back strong performances Smarr said, “ I’ve been putting extra work in outside of practice and it’s starting to show. Hopefully this will continue and as coach says, we will peak at the right time.”

The Warriors have now completed their games against the Wesco North. E-W is 7-3 in conference, solidly in second place as they begin their second round of games against the Wesco South with a home game against No.1-ranked Jackson Friday night. Tip-off is 7:15 p.m.

Warrior scoring: Trey Holland 5, Jordan Rice 2, Brady Edwards 3, Tate Budnick 2, Theo Lebesis 6, Jason Smarr 29, Travis Bakken 21

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