Added balance helps visiting Tumwater girls knock Black Hills out of first place tie, 59-36

Sometimes when a key player is missing, other team members rise to the occasion, taking on added responsibility.

Tumwater High School’s girls basketball team, already ranked No. 9 in the Class 2A RPI, has begun to reap the benefits of such situations.

Back on January 4, Natalie Sumrok missed a non-league game with Sequim for a family event and Cassie Kaufman stepped in to play strong defense on the Wolves’ star post. Tumwater won. Last week, guard Isabella Lund was ill and the T-Birds (15-1 overall) lost their first game of the season, to W.F. West in overtime.

But the box score of the loss to the Bearcats showed sophomore Lily McCauley, who missed all of last season with an injury, scoring 11 points and senior Olivia Bailon, reluctant to shoot earlier, finishing with seven points.

Friday night, McCauley scored 12 points and Bailon again had seven as visiting Tumwater rolled to a 59-36 rout of rival Black Hills in the girls edition of the cross-freeway rivalry. The win left Tumwater, 5-1 in the Class 2A Evergreen Conference, tied for first with W.F. West, while Black Hills (12-4 overall and #11 in the RPI) is alone in third at 4-2.

“We’ve always encouraged Liv to shoot. She just had to come into her own in her timing,” said Tumwater coach Robin Johnson. “She’s growing in confidence. It changes our team dynamic when she’s as aggressive as she was tonight.”

Bailon said, “we’ve been working really hard this season to leave it all on the floor. We’ve all got a big part to play. We’re being more confident and aggressive for our teammates.”

Tumwater raced out to a 30-13 lead at halftime and would later lead by as many as 27, despite once again playing with just eight in uniform because of an ankle injury to freshman guard Janiesse Armstrong.

The T-Birds had to adjust to attacking a zone defense Black Hills deployed at the outside.

“We thought they would man us, but we had practiced against zone during the week because I didn’t think they should man us,” said Johnson. “We’re quicker than they are, but they have a size advantage.”

Sumrok, at 5-foot-10, is the T-Birds tallest player, while Black Hills can send 6-foot Addie Ainsworth and 5-11 Jordyn Bender onto the floor.

“I thought our kids did a good job of holding their ground and playing bigger than they are,” sai Johnson.

Sumrok led the T-Birds with 14 points, while Aubrey Amendala added 12 to go with McCauley and Bailon’s production.

“We’ve learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses really well,” said McCauley. “We try to get the ball to our teammates when and where we know it’s going to be a good shot for them.”

Guards Megan River, with 12, and Mia Flores, with 10, led the Wolves in scoring but Black Hills couldn’t take advantage of its superior size as the smallish T-Birds found gaps to grab many an offensive rebound.

“They’ve been working really hard, staying committed to our goal of outrebounding every team,” said Johnson.

“Rebounds are hard work and we want to be the hardest working team,” said Bailon.

Both Bailon and McCauley value the rivalry aspect of beating Black Hills on its home court.

“We won here last year and we wanted to keep that streak going, plus it’s my last time playing here,” said Bailon. “It’s super emotional.”