Stober Shoots Mt. Rainier Past Hazen

RENTON - David Stober found the key to scoring last night: Shoot the ball.

Stober, who was reluctant to put up his outside shot most of last season, launched five three-pointers and hit them all en route to a career-high 28 points as Mount Rainier High School crushed Hazen 77-57 in Seamount League boys basketball action.

Stober, a senior guard, also hit five of six two-pointers and doubled his previous high-point night.

"It's the first time I ever really started shooting," he said.

And probably not the last. Asked if he would keep putting the ball up, Stober said, "I probably will."

It was a big offensive night for Mount Rainier (2-0, 2-1) as Brant Williams added 19 points, all but two coming in the second half, and Karl Cordes contributed 18. What a difference from Tuesday night, when the Rams managed only 14 first-half points against Kennedy before pulling out a 56-49 victory.

And what a difference for Hazen (1-1, 1-2) star David Clarke, the only returning starter from last season's league co-champion team. After hitting his first basket off the opening tip, he missed eight shots in a row before finally dropping in a layup late in the second quarter. He wound up with just eight points, hitting only three of 17 from the field. He missed all eight of his three-point tries, with John Merrell providing the Mount Rainier defense.

In Tuesday's 74-48 victory over Evergreen, Clarke buried 12 of 19 shots.

"It's on-the-job training for us," Hazen Coach John Ruby said. "If David Clarke's not shooting, it takes us a few possessions to find something else that works."

What finally worked was William Smith, a junior who came up with 16 points.

-- AT RENTON 71, MOUNT SI 59 - Sophomore 6-3 guard Andre Stewart had a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as Renton (1-1, 1-3) won its first game. Ray Clark added 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Indians, who jumped to a 44-32 lead.

Jeff Crow led Mount Si with 24 points. -- LIBERTY 57, AT HIGHLINE 53 - Liberty slowed the pace of game to take an early lead and held on to move to 2-0 in league. Highline closed to a nine-point deficit in the final minutes, but Liberty held on. Highline's John McMillan scored 20 points. -- AT LINDBERGH 62, KENNEDY 36 - Deron Woods had 26 points and 12 rebounds as Lindbergh (1-0, 3-0) breezed past the Lancers. Bryan Dolejsi added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the victors. David Martin had 10 points for Kennedy, which shot only 25 percent (12 for 48). -- AT TYEE 57, EVERGREEN 52 - Forward Demond Green scored 12 points to lead the Totems (1-1, 1-3) to victory. Fred May lead Evergreen with 16 points. Tyee outscored Evergreen 19-7 in the fourth quarter.

PCL GAMES -- AT ENUMCLAW 80, YELM 44 - Dolan Holt, a 6-foot-2 center, scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Enumclaw (2-0, 3-0) in the Pierce County League game. The Hornets limited Yelm to 1-for-19 shooting in the second half, denying the Tornados a field goal until there were three minutes left in the game. Forward Jay Grigsby came off the bench to score 18 points for the Hornets.

Yelm scored the final eight points of the first half to get a 36-36 tie. -- TAHOMA 98, AT FIFE 89 - Senior guard Scott Furman paced the Bears to the PCL victory with 32 points while Ralph Nilssen added 21 points and Andy Hawken 20. George Czarnowski contributed 11 steals and 12 assists.