South Sound high school winter sports roundup (Jan. 9 to 14)
MONDAY
GIRLS BASKETBALL
2A
WHITE RIVER 54, ENUMCLAW 49
The Battle of the Bridge hit the hardwood in a crucial early contest for the top spot in the 2A South Puget Sound League. And even though Enumclaw (8-3, 5-1) took an early 9-2 lead in the first quarter, White River (8-3, 7-0) came charging back to win the game 54-49.
Fighting through Enumclaw’s tough defense and bad luck shooting in the first quarter, White River finished the opening period with a deficit of 12-4. However, junior guard Josie Jacobs got the ball rolling for White River in the second quarter as she caught a little fire.
Scoring seven points in the period, Jacobs led a rejuvenated offense who retook the lead from their crosstown rivals. Senior guard Morgan Greene chipped in four of her game-high 15 points, and juniors MacKenzie Hinson and Ava Bright both hit crucial three-point shots that gave White River a 23-19 halftime lead.
“For us, we missed a lot of shots early. We got lots of nice looks, but we missed easy shots thanks to Enumclaw’s good defense,” said coach Chris Gibson. “They made a couple three’s which contributed to their 9-2 start to the game. We stuck with it though. We are a full court press team, and forced a few turnovers.”
The second half is where the game heated up as the offense for both squads began to open up. Sophomore guard Dakota Sprouse knocked in a couple three’s but Enumclaw wouldn’t go away.
Late in the fourth quarter, Enumclaw held a 46-44 lead. Bright knocked down a shot to tie up the game for White River, causing the momentum from the crowd to swing back their way. Another two-pointer was made for White River, then Bright knocked down another three-pointer to extend the lead to five at 51-46.
White River held their lead until time expired, preserving their undefeated league record and giving them sole possession of the top of the 2A SPSL. Jacobs would finish with 10, and Sprouse would round it out with nine. Their next match up will be against Montesano at 2:15 p.m. Saturday, January 14 at White River High School.
For Enumclaw, their high scorers were junior center Bella Firnkoess with 13 and senior guard Gwenny Hardersen with 10. Their upcoming matchup is a road game against Washington at 7 p.m. Friday, January 13 at Washington High School.
WR: 4-19-13-21--54
E: 12-7-16-14--49
Scoring: (WR) Morgan Greene 15, Josie Jacobs 10, Dakota Sprouse 9; (E) Bella Firnkoess 13, Gwenny Harderson 10
TUESDAY
GIRLS BASKETBALL
3A/4A
TAHOMA 59, AUBURN MOUNTAINVIEW 44
The Bears continue to hold onto their 3A/4A NPSL lead with their win over the Lions. Leading all scores was senior Hope Hassmann, scoring 28 points on the night.
Auburn Mountainview opened the game with tough defense against Tahoma, pressing their opponents with one-on-one defense. The Lions also did a great job breaking through the Bears’ defense by attacking the weak parts of their zone. By half time, Tahoma held a narrow lead of 30-26.
“We played hard, and they are a good team. The girls played against an aggressive 2-3 zone,” said Auburn Mountainview coach Cate Doherty. “We did a great job attacking their zone, and we moved the ball on offense. But they had a string of threes, like four in a row to really pull away. They are great shooters.”
Leading the way for the Lions was senior Maliyah Eliott with 15. Freshman Iliayah Wallis-Caw had 14 and junior Neviah Johnson had 10.
The Bears’ offensive mindset changed for the second half. Rather than try to get the one-on-one matchups they were getting in the first half, Tahoma would share the ball to get their open looks.
And it worked for them. Hassman did a lot of the sharing, creating open looks for senior Amelie Sitterud to score her 10 points and for senior Angelina Cavanaugh to net her eight points as well.
Defensively, the Bears slowed down Auburn Mountainview considerably. They forced the Lions to make bad shots and held them to just 18 points in the second half.
With the win, Tahoma will take their undefeated league record to Auburn Riverside at 7 p.m. Friday, January 13 at Auburn Riverside High School.
T: 14-16-20-9--59
AMV: 9-17-12-6--44
Scoring: (T) Hope Hassmann 28, Amelie Sitterud 10, Angelina Cavanaugh 8; (AMV) Maliyah Eliott15, Iliayah Wallis-Caw 14, Neviah Johnson 10
2A
W.F. WEST 53, TUMWATER 37
Julia Dalan posted a double-double and W.F. West outlasted Tumwater on Tuesday night, handing the Bearcats sole possession of the 2A EvCo lead.
W.F. West’s center poured in 18 points and logged 12 blocks. Her six points in the opening quarter pushed the Bearcats ahead early and provided a lead never surrendered at Tumwater High School.
The performance built on an already-impressive week for the sophomore standout. Dalan posted a 14-point, 14-rebound, 10-block triple-double just five days earlier in a win over Centralia, 64-29.
Tumwater resorted to intentional fouls in Tuesday’s final minutes; Dalan knocked down four of four from the foul line.
Both programs entered the contest an unblemished 5-0 in-league, deadlocked atop the standings prior to W.F. West’s victory. Tumwater was without leading scorer and rebounder Kylie Waltermeyer (foot injury), a senior guard responsible for 16 points and eight rebounds per game.
Junior guard Regan Brewer led Tumwater with 10 points, eight rebounds, and five steals. Junior forward Kendall Gjurasic added nine points and four rebounds.
BOX SCORE
WFW: 13-11-12-17—53
T: 7-6-13-11—37
Scoring: (WFW) Julia Dalan 18, Lena Fragner 13; (T) Regan Brewer 10, Kendall Gjurasic 9
WEDNESDAY
BOYS BASKETBALL
3A
TIMBERLINE 68, NORTH THURSTON 60
The Blazers secured the win and kept their undefeated league status as they took down the Rams in a game where both teams ramped up to an offense-filled finish.
The first half saw Timberline try to hold back on falling in love with the outside shot and attack North Thurston’s defense. They paired that with a solid defense in which they pressed hard against the Rams guards trying to bring the ball up court.
Proving to be a successful strategy, the Blazers took a 30-26 lead into halftime.
“We played solid defense to get turnovers, where we got easy shots off in transition. Our defense wanted to make things tougher on their guards,” Thomas said. “I told them to stay locked in. Sometimes kids think offense is everything, but we try to play sound defense. At one point, we got up by 17 then we had a spell where we had bad shots and they were being aggressive.”
The fourth quarter is where the action got really hot between the two squads. Leading 44-32, Timberline would extend their lead by as much as 17. However, North Thurston kept being aggressive on offense and trapped Timberline a few times.
Fighting through a spell of bad shots and getting worn down by the Rams, the Blazers came back with big shots and rallied behind senior Brooklyn Hicks’ game high 28 points. Sophomore Kenyon Simmons chipped in 15 as well.
North Thurston was led by senior Thad Tenkley’s 15 points and junior Ray Adams’ 14.
NT: 13-13-6-28--60
T: 20-10-14-24--68
Scoring: (T) Brooklyn Hicks 28, Kenyon Simmons 15, Brandon Jean 9, Alex Tichenor 8, Darrell Gipson 6; (NT) Thad Tenkley 15, Ray Adams 14, Karmel De la Cruz 7, Jackson Lusk 9, Ahren Bee-Richards 7, Micah Gentry 3, Ahmari Steplight 4
GIRLS BASKETBALL
4A
BETHEL 50, OLYMPIA 26
The Bison stormed to a 17-0 lead in the opening quarter, cruising thereafter in Wednesday’s meeting between top-25 programs.
No. 25 Bethel’s high-powered shooting attack and defensive authority contributed to the crooked scoreboard after just eight minutes, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Bethel’s first game all season with a healthy starting five, senior guard Aaliyah Clemons paced Bison scorers with 16, dishing four assists. Senior guard Foai Pula poured in 12 and snagged nine rebounds. Senior forward Alyssa Smith led Bethel with 15 boards over No. 16 Olympia, per the WIAA’s RPI rankings.
“With the ball movement, everybody was getting wide open shots,” said Bethel head coach Tim Brown, “and they were knocking them all down.”
Sophomore guard Moriah Sears netted three from beyond the arc, good for nine points. Junior forward Meleilana Lime-Paupati added six points and eight rebounds.
“I kept telling all the girls... if we just stick to the blueprint every quarter, I guarantee you, I promise that everything should turn out like the results we got,” Brown said. “Each quarter, we played the same exact way.
“We were going to stick to the blueprint of running them off of the three point line... boxing out, and keeping their bigs (away from) the rebounds.”
BOX SCORE
O: 0-8-6-12–26
B: 17-10-16-7—50
Scoring: (B) Aaliyah Clemons 16, Foai Pula 12
SUMNER 50, EMERALD RIDGE 47
They are a different group of Spartans, but the song remains the same for coach Katie Hyppa: strong defense leads to scoring opportunities on offense.
Seven seniors have graduated from the squad that brought Sumner home the second-place trophy in the 2022 4A state finals. However, players like senior Kylie Griffin and junior Lainee Houillon have not yet graduated. Their invaluable tournament experience helps bring championship perspective to the younger players on the roster.
And it was needed in their game against the Jaguars, as a late fourth quarter rally nearly sent the game to overtime.
“It was a good game, we saw them a few times last year. We had to leave it all on the floor,” Hyppa said. “Our girls held the lead the entire game. I told them that closing out a game like this is a confidence booster as nothing for us has changed style wise. We are active on defense by getting in lanes and buckling down on their players. The coaches talk to them a lot about getting stops. Emerald Ridge is talented, and they can score points.”
The Spartans held the lead the entire game. When the Jaguars started to cut it close and foul, Sumner knocked down the clutch shots.
Houillon led her team with 22 points, five steals and seven rebounds. Griffin knocked in 13 and six rebounds, and freshman Olivia Collins had 12 points and six rebounds as well.
ER: 4-13-11-19--47
S: 14-13-10-13--50
Scoring: (S) Lainee Houillon 22, Kylie Griffin 13, Olivia Collins 12
3A
NORTH THURSTON 76, TIMBERLINE 40
Soraya Ogaldez’s 28 points paced all scorers, powering a big first quarter in North Thurston’s convincing win over Timberline.
Good for more than 24 points per game, the two-way Ogaldez nabbed five steals and dished seven assists. Three Rams notched double-digit scoring performances, in total: Junior forward Alexis Meyer logged 12 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Sadie Tanner added 12.
League-rival Gig Harbor’s loss to Peninsula on Wednesday night ended the Tides’ undefeated stretch in the 3A SCC and raised North Thurston (11-2, 6-1) atop the 3A SSC standings.
BOX SCORE
NT: 27-22-10-17–76
T: 8-13-10-9—40
Scoring: (NT) Soraya Ogaldez 28, Alexis Meyer 12, Sadi Tanner 12; (T) Shayla Cordis 24, Azaria Landry 9
PENINSULA 59, GIG HARBOR 51
Peninsula upended the Tides in Gig Harbor’s crosstown rivalry game, using a team-high 20 points from junior captain Kaylia Heidelberg.
Peninsula’s victory allows for bragging rights and creates mayhem within the 3A SSC standings as less than a month of regular-season action remains. The win manifested a three-way tie alongside Gig Harbor (7-5, 6-1) and North Thurston (11-2 6-1) for tops in the league; the trio face one another once more before season’s end.
Sophomore guard Grace Richardson contributed 16 points. Senior forward Brooke Zimmermann added 10; both nabbed four steals.
Peninsula returns to action on Friday night, hosting league-rival Central Kitsap at 7 p.m. PT. The Seahawks meet Gig Harbor again on Feb. 2.
BOX SCORE
P: 12-13-21-13–59
GH: 2-15-16-18–51
Scoring: (P) Kaylia Heidelberg 20, Grace Richardson 16
SATURDAY
GIRLS BASKETBALL
2A
MONTESANO 57, WHITE RIVER 52
Montesano toppled White River (3-3, 3-0) on Saturday, road victors and recent winners in five of six.
Bulldogs star forward McKynnlie Dalan dropped a game-high 24 points, pushing her team to 4-1 over 2A opponents this season.
Montesano’s once-slim halftime lead ballooned in the third, helped by a dozen points from Dalan alone in the period. The University of Minnesota commit added 14 rebounds in the contest; her younger sister, Evanjillie, added 10 points Saturday.
Bulldogs junior forward Mikayla Hinson shot six-of-eight from the field and four-of-five from the foul line.
“We have so much respect for what they do,” said Hornets coach Chris Gibson. “(Montesano) works really hard. They’re physically imposing.”
White River limited turnovers and produced quality shots following intermission but failed to prevent the same from the opponent. The Hornets remain atop the 2A SPSL -- a perfect 3-0 in league play -- and each of its three losses are to programs with undefeated records in their respective leagues.
“We’ve still got Gig Harbor coming up at the end of the month... we purposefully schedule these games,” Gibson said. “It’s no fun to lose some of these games, but we keep it in perspective, and we’re trying to get ready for February. This helps us.”
Sophomore forward Vivian Kingston paced White River with eight rebounds.
BOX SCORE
M: 6-15-26-10—57
WR: 11-8-15-18—52
Scoring: (WR) Morgan Greene 13, Ava Bright 10, MacKenzie Hinson 9; (M) McKynnlie Dalan 24, Mikayla Stanfield 16, Evanjillie Dalan 10
This story was originally published January 9, 2023 at 10:48 PM.