High school basketball roundup: Landram’s 25 powers Gig Harbor over Central Kitsap
FRIDAY (JAN. 21)
BOYS BASKETBALL
AUBURN 76, KENTWOOD 55
Four players reached double-digit scoring in the Trojans’ win over the Conquerors while living up to their league-leading defense.
Senior Tre Blassingame led all scorers with 26 points in the matchup, while teammates junior Semaj Brown added 14, senior Tyrell Nichols had 12, and senior Kaden Hansen had 10 as well.
“We have an unselfish team, as evident by having four players in double digits. We almost had five, but that player had nine points,” said coach Ryan Hansen. “We take pride in our defense, we lead our league in it. Our goal is to hold the other teams to just 50 points, so it was a little higher than we wanted it to be.”
Although senior Mason Penelo scored 18 and senior Kama Hamilton scored 11 for the Conquerors, the Trojan defense held their top scorer in check. Scoring around 21 points a game, senior Logan Stempniak is a major focal point in the Kentwood offense.
However, Stempniak was held to just eight points thanks to the stellar Auburn defense.
BOX SCORE:
A: 20-20-22-14--76
KW: 12-17-11-15--55
Scoring: (A) Tre Blassingame 26, Semaj Brown 14, Tyrell Nichols 12, Kaden Hansen 10; (KW) Mason Penelo 18, Kamal Hamilton 11
MOUNT TAHOMA 55, LINCOLN 48
It’s not unheard of to hold a specific player to single-digit points in a game, or even a quarter of play. But the T-Birds in the second quarter held the Abes to just four points in the period.
The tremendous effort on the side of the T-Birds came from them using their length. They made passing lanes difficult to find, as well as made Abes players like senior guard Parker Androy uncomfortable on the floor.
“With us, we pride ourselves on our defense. We are good on offense, but we try to use our length to our advantage,” said coach Jason Townsend. “Our defense created turnovers on the court and we capitalized on those turnovers.”
One T-Bird that had the hot hand on the night was senior Asjon Anderson. He finished the night with 34 points and he got them from all over the court.
He would use his incredible shiftiness to shake defenders in front of him, he would drive the rim or get the outside shot. And in this game, he was able to draw fouls and make his free throws from the line.
BOX SCORE:
MT: 19-13-11-12--55
L: 16-4-14-14--48
Scoring: (MT) Asjon Anderson 34
OTHER SCORES:
KENTRIDGE 63, MOUNT RAINIER 61
GIRLS BASKETBALL
GIG HARBOR 52, PENINSULA 50
It’s the Fish Bowl but on the basketball court, and the Tides won the second match-up of the season against the crosstown rival Seahawks.
Trailing at the half, Gig Harbor was not getting to the free-throw line nor getting to the basket as often as they liked. That of course, changed beginning in the third quarter.
“Our offense was stagnant, but we came out in the second half and played a lot of team basketball,” said coach Mike Guinasso. “In the second half, we tripled our free-throw attempts and made a lot more shots from the outside. With games against Peninsula, these rivalry games, they’re never out of it. It basically came down to whoever was going to miss their last shot was going to be in trouble.”
Every Tides player went out on the court and contributed something that they could. Sophomore Taylor Shwab led the Tides in scoring with 17 points, junior Baylee Young had 12, junior Riley Peschek had 10 and sophomore Abbie Hunter had seven.
For the Seahawks, freshman Grace Richardson also scored 17 on the night, followed by junior Brooke Zimmerman’s 14, senior Makena Smith’s seven and sophomore Kaylia Heidelberg had six.
BOX SCORE:
GH: 9-7-17-19--52
P: 8-14-10-18--50
Scoring: (GH) Taylor Schwab 17, Baylee Young 12, Riley Peschek 10, Abbie Hunter 7; (P) Brooke Zimmerman 14, Grace Richardson 17, Makena Smith 7, Kaylia Heidelberg 6
KENTWOOD 63, AUBURN 29
The Conquerors were already confident that they were going to cruise to victory over the Trojans, who were down a key player. But they knew the night was won when their defense held reliable Auburn scorer senior Chloe Furnstahl to just two points.
The defense was in Furnstahl’s face all game and did not let her settle into any sort of rhythm. They limited any kind of open look she had and kept track of where Furnstahl was at all times.
Whereas the Conquerors had answers for the Trojans, the same couldn’t be said going the opposite way. Leading all scorers in the game was junior Jersey Huerta, who was the only Conqueror to reach double digits at 24 points.
“We were confident that we were going to win. The way we have been playing lately and the fact they were down a key player really worked out for us,” said coach Jordan Nero. “The girls were happy to make plays for each other.”
The Kentwood offense was spread out for sure. Players like senior Marishka Borris (9), sophomore Kylie Robertson (9), and junior Aniya Washington (8) all got in on the scoring as well.
BOX SCORE:
KW: 16-14-13-20--63
A: 8-6-6-9--29
Scoring: (KW) Jersey Huerta 24, Marishka Borris 9, Kylie Robertson 9, Aniya Washington 8; (A) Madelyn Brown 14, Jaylah Brown 7, Chloe Furnstahl 2
THURSDAY (JAN. 20)
BOYS BASKETBALL
SUMNER 59, BELLARMINE 56
Up by one and with 11 seconds to play in the game, senior Connor Chalich was fouled and sent to the line for a one-and-one.
Playing in an important league game at home, Chalich sealed the game for the Spartans by nailing both free throws. With the win, Sumner is now guaranteed at least first or second place in the 4A SPSL.
“We run a unique zone defense that basically was man to man,” said coach Jake Jackson. “Knowing where Tommy [Hanly] and Nick [Ferenko] were all night was huge for us. They were first-team all-league last year and Ethan [Canion] and Ty [Edwards] held them down tonight. We showed we were the better team tonight.”
All three seniors, Chalich, Canion, and Edwards, proved to be huge for the Spartans in the game. To go along with his game-clinching free throws, Chalich had a team-high 24 points in the game.
Canion added 15 and Edwards scored 18 to help lift the Spartans over the Lions. That wasn’t all they did though. When the Sumner defense needed a crucial stop or rebound, any one of those three seniors stepped up in the moment.
S: 19-11-11-18--59
B: 17-16-7-16--56
Top corers: (S) Connor Chalich 24, Ethan Canion 15, Ty Edwards 18
GIRLS BASKETBALL
SUMNER 60, BELLARMINE 50
After a first half that had both the Spartans and Lions playing pretty close, Sumner slowly pulled away in the second half.
Leading the way for the Spartans was senior Alyson Deaver, making herself the focal point for the offensive attack with 33 points on the night.
“It was a gritty game, every quarter was pretty close. We were at Bellarmine which is a tough place to play,” said coach Katie Hyppa. “We didn’t shoot well in the first half… so we made adjustments for the second half. We needed players to get out there and go for rebounds.”
And rebounding is what senior Catelyn Deaver did, as she nabbed 17 boards on the night. Along with Catelyn, seniors Kaylee Cooper and Delaney Coons both came away with four steals apiece.
BOX SCORE:
S: 9-11-20-20--60
B: 9-9-15-17--50
Scoring: (S) Alyson Deaver 33, Catelyn Deaver 17 rebounds, Kaylee Cooper 4 steals, Delaney Coons 4 steals
W.F. WEST 51, WHITE RIVER 29
Senior Drea Brumfield is one of those players that can score from almost anywhere. She can drive to the bucket and shoot from the field. And now, she is the all-time leader in points scored for the Bearcats with 1,171 points.
She did it on a night where WF West absolutely held the Hornets in check. The Bearcat defense made sure they never let their opponents score above double-digit points in any quarter. In fact, the best White River did was nine points in the third\u0009quarter.
“We take pride in our defense, we believe that a great defense will drive our offense,” said coach Kyle Karnofski. “I am really proud of the way they played tonight, it was a really fun environment. It was also really cool to see them pause the game to honor Drea [Brumfield]’s accomplishment.”
At halftime, White River spotlighted Brumfield’s accomplishment, as well as giving her the game ball after the game.
BOX SCORE:
WFW: 5-17-17-12--51
WR: 6-6-9-8--29
Scoring: (WFW) Lexi Roberts 2, Makayla Mencke 4, Olivia Remund 9, Drea Brumfield 17, Morgan Rogerson 1, Carlie Deskins 7, Kyla McCallum 7, Julia Dalan 4.
WEDNESDAY (JAN. 19)
BOYS BASKETBALL
GIG HARBOR 61, CENTRAL KITSAP 42
Junior guard Will Landram led all scorers with 25 points and the Tides rolled for a 61-42 win over Central Kitsap on Wednesday night.
Gig Harbor rebounded after a narrow, three-point loss to Timberline last Friday that represented their first of the season. Wednesday’s win moved the Tides back into first place alongside the Blazers: both are 8-1 in the 3A SSC, only having lost to each other.
Tides forward Parker Born led the game with 14 rebounds. Landram’s night included an 11-for-13 shooting performance from the floor.
“I think we have a lot of experienced kids,” Landram said after the win. “There’s a lot of chemistry. They’ve played a lot of basketball together. And so you’ve got smart kids who are doing their best. A lot of good things can happen.”
BOX SCORE
GH: 18-13-15-15--61
CK: 9-11-15-7--42
TIMBERLINE 84, YELM 61
Timberline’s quickness and aggressive play propelled the Blazers to an 84-61 win over Yelm on Wednesday night.
What was the key?
“Trying to make it tough for (Yelm to score), but then after, they have to work hard defensively,” Timberline coach Allen Thomas told The News Tribune. “We’re trying to push the ball right back at them and make them have to sprint back on defense.
“Just trying to create a pace and tempo where it’s very fast and furious.”
Junior guard Miles Gurske led all scorers with 26. With the win, Timberline (8-1) kept pace with Gig Harbor for the top spot in the 3A SSC.
“(We’re) playing unselfish,” Thomas said, “and working hard together for one common goal. I think guys are trying to buy in on the defensive end a lot more now. They understand that they need each other in order to win.”
BOX SCORE
T: 16-26-19-23--84
Y: 14-18-11-18--61
MOUNT SI 80, TAHOMA 65
Carson Talbert led all scorers with 22, but the contributions from Tahoma’s senior forward weren’t enough for the Bears against a still-undefeated Mount Si team on Wednesday night.
Four Wildcats scored 15 or more, including 20 from six-foot-nine forward Miles Heide, and Mount Si (8-0) won, 80-65, to gain ground in the 4A KingCo Conference.
Cooper Church, Tahoma’s standout senior forward, was unavailable for Wednesday’s contest. The Bears trailed by just five at halftime, but Tahoma mustered only seven third-quarter points and never mounted a comeback.
“They’re really fast, and we didn’t adjust to that,” Tahoma coach Rick Tripp said of the Wildcats. “They went on a pretty good run. ... We had some turnovers, and they converted on those.
“But they’re as good as advertised. We’ve played them, we’ve played Union, Auburn, Mount Spokane. I mean, we’ve played, supposedly, the top teams in 3A and 4A, and they’re up there.”
Sophomore guard Trevor Hennig added 19 points for Mount Si. Bennett O’Connor, a senior point guard, scored 18 and dished out eight assists.
BOX SCORE
MS: 20-21-22-17--80
T: 21-15-7-22--65
MORE SCORES:
Peninsula 58, River Ridge 50
This story was originally published January 19, 2022 at 8:57 PM.