It was a a tough weekend for two local high school basketball teams as both Port Angeles and Sequim girls lost in the regional round of the state girls basketball tournament.
The Roughrider girls ending their season, losing to Renton for the 2nd time in 10 days. The Riders lost Friday night 47-40. Like she did all season, Anna Petty carried the Roughrider offense trying to will her team to a win while scoring 18 points. Lexie Smith hit for 8 points and Paige Mason had 6 points. The Roughriders have until next December to find and or develop some scorers. Sequim and Port Angeles will be the heavy favorites to again win the Olympic League Championship unless the other 5 schools go to Europe during the Summer to find foreign exchange basketball players. The Roughridrs ended the season with a 13-11 record.
—
Even though the Sequim Wolves did not get the major upset over #1 ranked Ellensburg, the Wolves earned a lot of respect from basketball fans who traveled from all over eastern Washington to watch the two teams who were ranked in the top 2 spots of the RPI poll for 90% of the season. The Wolves had a very respectable 1st half trailing at the half 28-16. Wolves 6’0″ Jelissa Julmist received a lot of praise from basketball aficionados for holding Ellensburg’s 6’6″ senior center Olivia Anderson to 9 points while Julmist scored 14. The final score was 59-35, but a lot of positive comments came from Wolves nation on the way the team played and the positive experience of playing a dominating team on their home court.
Now the Wolves will have one of the biggest games in school history Wednesday night at the Yakima Sundome against 16th-seed Sammamish, who upset #9-seed Whatcom County team Sehome. Tip off time is at 9 pm in a game that will be broadcast on KONP. If the Wolves win, they are guaranteed two more games. In addition#7 White River upset #2 seed Lynde so the winner of the Sequim – Sammamish game will play White River on Thursday while the loser goes home. The winner of a White River matchup will play in a semifinal game Friday night for a chance to play for a trip to the state championship game Saturday night. Last year, it was the #8 seed Burlington-Edison who made it all the way to the championship game. Coincidentally, the Wolves are the #8 seed this year. Tomorrow we will have the big game preview of the Sequim – Sammamish game.
—
In NWAC action Saturday, the Pirate women blew out Edmonds 94-72 in a game that was not as close as the score board. The Pirates were up by 33 points with 9 minutes left in the game. Allison Crumb played her entire bench with everyone getting plenty of minutes. Itu Tuisaula and Millie Long each hit for 22 points. If Bellevue beats Shoreline tonight or if Peninsula beats Everett Wednesday night, the Pirates are the Northern Conference Champions.
The Pirate men earned a high energy and spirited win over 2nd place Edmonds 75 -70. However some heart breaking news. Sophomore leader Malik Jackson came down awkwardly on his ankle and had to be taken to a local hospital by an aid car. Jackson out of Oakland, CA was having an outstanding season and is a team and fan favorite.
The injury to Jackson was a very emotional drawback for the Pirates for the next three minutes. Pirate Head Coach Donald Rollman called a timeout had an emotional talk with his team and then the Pirates went off. That energized a large contingent of Pirate fans. The Pirates led at the half by 17 points 46-29. The Pirates holding the 2nd best offense in the NWAC of 92 points per game to just 29 first half points.
Pirate Head Coach Donald Rollman inspired his team after a teammate went down early in the win over Edmonds.
The Tritons came back to take a late lead but in the end Roosevelt Williams Jr and Esa Onakpoma would not let the pirates come up short. Williams led the way with 20 points and 10 rebounds, Onakpoma made some huge athletic plays down the stretch scoring 15 points and pulling down 5 rebounds. Former Roughrider Gary Johnson started the 2nd half in place of Malik Jackson and played well scoring 9 points and running down 5 rebounds.
The Pirates end confrence play at home on Wednesday night against Everett on Sophomore night as the Pirate women and men will honor a total of 13 Sophomores. The tip off times are 5 and 7 pm.