The Lynnwood boys basketball team got off to a sluggish start Wednesday night against the visiting Red Wolves from Cedarcrest. But the Royals put together a strong second half to erase a 5-point halftime deficit and take home a Wesco 3A conference victory.

Trailing by five at the half, and by four after three quarters, the Royals utilized an aggressive half court trap pressure defense to force the Red Wolves into late turnovers.  Lynnwood turned those into points, outscoring Cedarcrest 19-8 in the quarter to cap off a 52-45 win.

The fourth quarter opened with the Red Wolves holding a 37-33 lead that they maintained much of the quarter.

It wasn’t until 1:41 left when Lynnwood’s Jerry Boston drove down the lane to score and was fouled on the play. He sank the free throw, tying the game at 45.

Cedarcrest wouldn’t score again. Meanwhile, the Royals’ Jayden Acosta-Newsome scored five of his team high 13 in the final 1:21 and Gabe Newson added two, all in transition off turnovers from that press trap to seal the victory.

“Hats off to Cedarcrest tonight. They go extremely hard,” said Lynnwood head coach Bobby Hinnenkamp after the game. “To be honest, I feel very fortunate that we were able to get that win as they outplayed us most of the game.”

Asked about the decision to implement the pressure defense, Hinnenkamp said the Royals had choice. “We were down three or four points with less than three minutes to go, so we had to turn it up. It was kind of a risky one because we were in the bonus. Fortunately, we turned up the head and got those steals and those breakout buckets.”

The win puts Lynnwood in 5th place in the Wesco 3A conference with just four games remaining before the District playoffs begin on Feb. 6.

Lynnwood will play next on Friday night when they will play host to the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors at Lynnwood High School. The game will tip off at 5:40 p.m.

Wesco 3A Boys Basketball: Cedarcrest at Lynnwood, January 23, 2019

Cedarcrest          17      8    12   8 —45

Lynnwood           9       11    13   19 —63

Cedarcrest scoring: Nicolo Cammarano 14, Shawn Deming 10, Dawson Cairns 6, Kian Pegueros-Warren 6, Lance Stupfel 3, Brennan LeBlanc 2, Bryce Anderson 2, Cameron Brady 2, Alex Perry 0

Lynnwood scoring: Jayden Acosta-Newsome 13, Jerry Boston 10, Josh Siscar 10, Jalen Francisco 5, Timmy Taing 4, Gabe Newson 4, Jordan Glover 2, Carson Speegle 2, Andrea Bouah 2

Records:  Cedarcrest 3-7 Conference, 8-8 overall; Lynnwood 6-4 Conference, 7-9 overall

Cedarcrest’s next game: versus Mountlake Terrace, Jan. 25, 7:15 p.m. at Cedarcrest High School

Lynnwood’s next game: versus Edmonds-Woodway, Jan. 25, 5:40 p.m. at Lynnwood High School

— Story and photos by Scott Williams