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At North Thurston High School, you can’t talk about Matt Reid without talking about Landon Rushton, and vice versa. The pair work hand-in-hand on the basketball court.
The duo, who call themselves brothers, have been best friends since second grade. They were born two days apart in October 1993.
“They know each other so well,” North Thurston coach Tim Brown said. “They’ll go to war for each other.”
With Reid and Rushton, North Thurston is a favorite to win the 2A Evergreen Conference title with four returning starters from last year’s team that went 15-7 overall and advanced to the 2A District IV tournament.
Reid and Rushton have grown into two of the top guards in the 2A Evergreen Conference and one of the top backcourts among all 2A teams in the state. They’re three-year starters and although they’ve had ups and downs, they hope to end their senior season at the 2A state tournament in Yakima in March. North Thurston hasn’t made state since 2007.
Their friendship has grown with basketball. Most often, they don’t need to verbally communicate for each to where the other is going on the court.
“Sometimes, we don’t even make eye contact,” Rushton said. “We’ve been playing together for so long, we know what each other is going to do.”
“It’s easy for me,” Reid said. “I can see a pass and then next thing you know, Landon is making a cut. All I have to do is put it in the right spot and he’s going to put it in the hole.”
An instant friendship formed when Rushton’s family moved to Lacey, he entered South Bay Elementary School and became part of the YMCA youth basketball team that included Reid. Matt’s father, longtime North Thurston assistant Mike Reid, coached the boys throughout their youth.
As their bond has grown, so has the teams’ win total. They had breakout seasons as juniors. Rushton led the EvCo was in scoring at 21 points per game, including three games of 30-plus points, and was named league co-MVP. Rushton led the EvCo in assists with eight per game.
North Thurston nearly made the 2A state tournament last season, but came up one point short in losses to River Ridge (58-57) and Mark Morris (71-70).
The team is off to a 2-1 start heading into a 7 p.m. nonleague game Wednesday against Mark Morris. The victories came against Steilacoom (87-60) and Fife (59-47).
Already, Rushton has put up a big scoring game, pouring in a career-high 36 points in Saturday’s win over Steilacoom.
Reid recalls Rushton as a pure shooter in his younger days, but says he has developed finesse to complement big play-making abilities.
“He has the ability to finish and be creative with his finishes,” Reid said. “Soon, you take it for granted.”
Rushton generally thinks of point guard Reid as a pass-first player, but noted that offseason work has improved his shot. He averaged 12 points a game last season, in addition to his eight assists.
“Since high school, he’s become a pure passer,” Rushton said. “It’s always there, and his shot has developed a lot. He can create his own shot.”
Both players are being heavily recruited to play college basketball; Reid by the University of Puget Sound and Rushton by Western Oregon and BYU-Hawaii.
Brown said his backcourt reminds him of the North Thurston senior guard combination of Sean Weston and Matt Colombo in 1993-94. That year, West and Colombo led the Rams to a fifth-place finish at the AAA state tournament.
“They’re very, very similar in some ways,” Brown said. “I’ve been blessed to have good guards in my tenure.”
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473
mwochnick@theolympian.com
