EVERETT — It’s time to start calling Ferndale a Cinderella team.
The Golden Eagles opened the District 1 3A tournament with an upset over No. 2 seed Shorecrest. Another win against Cascade of Everett put them in the semifinals Wednesday against No. 3 seed Stanwood.
The dance isn’t over for Ferndale as the Golden Eagles pulled off another upset, beating the Spartans 72-65 to advance to the district championship.
The Golden Eagles got up early, leading 22-12 after the first quarter, but Stanwood was able to claw its way back into the game.
Ferndale held a 30-26 lead at halftime.
Golden Eagles coach Jason Owens said kids don’t see the type of zone defense Stanwood runs a lot.
“When you become stagnant against a matchup zone you don’t find looks,” Owens said. “You have to move the ball, you gotta keep moving and in that second quarter we kind of slowed down.”
Ferndale and Stanwood traded baskets for much of the third quarter. The Spartans tied the game at 34-34 midway through the third, forcing a timeout from by the Golden Eagles.
It was a 46-42 lead for Ferndale with one quarter left to play.
Stanwood cut the Ferndale lead down to one at 50-49 with about four minutes left in the game and it was time for someone on the Golden Eagles to make a clutch play.
That clutch play ended up coming from a few different players as Ferndale outscored Stanwood 22-16 to close out the game.
Sophomore Conner Walcker pulled down an offensive rebound and put back a layup after two missed free throws. A layup by senior Jazen Guillory off a steal in transition pushed the Ferndale lead to 56-49 with three minutes left to play.
“I’ve been coaching for 25 years and I wish I knew the formula because then I’d be a better coach,” Owens said of multiple players stepping up late. “I have three seniors, a junior and a sophomore who have bought into each other, trust each other, trust what we’re doing and how we do it.”
The teams exchanged buckets for the remainder of the game until Stanwood had no choice but to foul and send Ferndale to the line where the Golden Eagles iced the game.
Leading the offense for Ferndale was junior Damian Toney with 19 points. Walcker scored 18, Guillory had 14, senior Luke Wells added 11 and senior Mark Schlichting contributed 10.
Schlichting said after a 1-7 start to the season, there’s nothing that can surprise the team.
“We’ve kind of been through it all,” he said. “We came with something to prove against Shorecrest and we’ve kept going along with it. It’s just carried over.”
The five that started the game for Ferndale also ended the game. At no point did Owens sub his starters out.
“They’re starting to realize he’s good at this, I’m good at that and their chemistry is really good,” Owens said.
Up next for the Golden Eagles is the district championship game Saturday against No. 4 seed Mountlake Terrace, where they will have a chance for yet another upset.
The win also has Ferndale moving on to play next weekend regardless of what happens as the Golden Eagles have clinched their first state berth since 1996.
“We have come an unreal distance for us and our dream was to get to the state tournament,” Owens said. “We started 1-7 and kept believing that somehow, someway, we’d find a way. It’s unreal to think we’re actually here right now.”
