Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Neah Bay’s Courtney Swan, center, dives for the ball after tipping it from the grasp of Grace Academy’s Sabrina Metcalf, on floor, as Grace Academy’s Emily Fredrickson and Neah’ Bay’s Ruth Moss, right, chase from behind on Friday at Port Angeles High School.

Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Neah Bay’s Courtney Swan, center, dives for the ball after tipping it from the grasp of Grace Academy’s Sabrina Metcalf, on floor, as Grace Academy’s Emily Fredrickson and Neah’ Bay’s Ruth Moss, right, chase from behind on Friday at Port Angeles High School.

GIRLS DISTRICT BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Neah Bay on to state, Sequim and Clallam Bay girls advance to state regional round

By By Pierre LaBossiere and Michael Carman

Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES — Neah Bay, champing at the bit for two weeks to finally get a chance to play again, overwhelmed a good Grace Academy team in the first quarter 25-2, then cruised the rest of the way in a 66-26 1B Tri-District Tournament girls basketball win at Port Angeles High School.

Friday’s win sends the Red Devils (19-2 overall and No. 5 in the WIAA RPI) to the Class 1B State Tournament, though they played Saturday against No. 8 Concordia Christian after press deadline essentially for state seeding.

How dominant were the Red Devils? Grace Academy not only scored just two points in that first quarter but the Eagles only got off five shots in the whole quarter as they simply couldn’t get the ball into the front court against Neah Bay’s quick hands and swarming defense. The Red Devils had a whopping 29 steals for the game. And Grace Academy just isn’t any team. The Eagles came in to Friday’s game with a 14-4 record.

Neah Bay had its usual balance, with five girls scoring at least eight points, Laila Greene hit three 3-pointers and scored 17 to lead the Red Devils, adding seven steals. Ruth Moss scored 16 points and Oceana Aguirre had nine points and 13 rebounds.

Courtney Swan had a great game, scoring eight, dishing out nine assists and tallying 11 steals. Cei’J Gagnon had eight points, six rebounds and four steals.

Neah Bay coach Tina Grimes said the two-week layoff was hard on the girls and she thought the team looked a little rusty after the dominant first quarter.

“I call them my horses … they want to get out of the chute,” she said.

“I wanted them to do better. It boils down to discipline. I want that intensity the whole game,” Grimes said.

“It was kind of hard [waiting so long to play],” said Swan. “We just kept practicing. We came out intense and ready to go.”

Swan said her and her teammates are looking to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish at state. They are gunning for a top 3 finish.

On Saturday, Neah Bay beat Concordia Christian 69-55 to improve their seeding. The tournament championship game was canceled because of all the snow cancellations.

Neah Bay 66, Grace Academy 26

GA 2 9 4 11 — 26

NB 25 17 8 16 — 66

Grace Academy (26) — VAnDam 11, Impola 5, VAnderWel 5, Metcalf 2, Fehme 2, Hass 1.

Neah Bay (66) — Greene 17, Moss 16, Aguirre 9, Gagnon 8, C. Swan 8, P. Swan 6, Woodruff 2.

Sequim to state regionals

TACOMA — The Wolves won two lose-or-go home contests to advance to the Class 2A State Regional Round, Sequim’s first state appearance since the 2006-2007 season.

Friday night, the Wolves took care of business in a 63-43 win over the Eatonville Cruisers to advance to face Olympic League foe Kingston.

Sequim beat the Buccaneers soundly in two league games earlier this season and Saturday’s contest was no exception as the Wolves pounded Kingston 63-37.

“The girls were gritty, that was their third game in three days and they knew what it meant to win that game,” Sequim coach Linsay Rapelje said.

“We were familiar with [Kingston] and we stuck with it. The girls kept that goal in mind of moving on to the next round.

Hope Glasser led the Wolves (15-7) with 21 points.

“She had a great game,” Rapelje said. “We had a mismatch and we were able to really exploit that.”

Kalli Wiker scored 13 and Jayla Julmist had a double-double with 10 points and 17 rebounds.

Wiker was huge against Eatonville on Friday, scoring 26 points and draining six 3-point shots.

“Kalli Wiker had a great shooting night,” Rapelje said.

“After halftime we were able to make some adjusments. We picked it up on defense. That’s been our key, what we have been able to do defensively.”

White River 57, Sequim 50

BUCKLEY — The Wolves battled the No. 1 district seed Hornets all game long and tied the game early in the final period, but foul trouble limited Sequim in a close loss Thursday.

“Jayla Julmist, Hope Glasser and Abby Schroeder got in foul trouble in the second quarter,” Wolves coach Linsay Rapelje said.

“At one point we were at a 12-2 disadvantage [in the first half]. “That was frustrating because I thought that was determining the game and not the players.

“Jayla dominated in that first quarter, she was amazing, so when I had to pull her and Hope out in the second quarter what was working wasn’t available.”

White River was able to answer any Sequim challenge late in the game.

“We had a couple of 3-point shots, but they would come back with a 3 or get fouled and make it, and they were good free throw shooters, too.”

La Center 58, Forks 39

CHEHALIS — The Spartans opened the game well offensively, getting buckets against the Wildcats’ zone defense, but a change in tactics spelled the end of Forks’s season.

“That’s sort of been our struggle throughout the year,” Spartans coach David Hurn said. “Our man-to-man offense just hasn’t been productive. We attacked their zone in the first quarter, they switched to man and we struggled offensively. When you struggle there other things start to unravel a bit and La Center was able to get a pretty good quarter in there before halftime.”

Hurn said Chloe Leverington (12 points) and Rian Peters (nine) had good games. He also praised sophomore Elli Kilmer.

“Elli had another solid game on defense and rebounding,” Hurn said. “She’s come a long way in just two years of playing the game.”

The Spartans (8-13) had no seniors on their roster, so the whole team should return with some additions.

“We know what we need to work on and we get everybody back and that doesn’t happen very often,” Hurn said. “We have a talented group of eighth grade girls coming up that have been playing AAU ball together and working on their games and I expect them to challenge our players.”

Hurn, who played college football at Linfield, brought a little of what he learned there to coaching the Spartans.

“We pushed all year to build a culture, lots of behind-the-scenes work there and I leaned on what I learned when I played at Linfield, focus on people, preparation and performance.

“A big part of it this year was the preparation stage. You have to build a culture of hard work, prepare like you are playing a game and that’s how you get performance on game day. We took a big step to get that playoff basketball experience and that way we can make a deeper run next season.”

La Center 58, Forks 39

Forks 14 5 10 10— 39

La Center 13 17 11 17— 58

Forks (39) — Leverington 12, Peters 9, Olson 6, Rowley 5, Kilmer 4, Kyrissa 2, Winger 1, Sandoval, Horton, Bouchard.

Chimacum ousted

TACOMA — Chimacum fell 46-23 against Cascade Christian Saturday in a loser-out, Class 1A West Central District Tournament contest at Bellarmine Prep.

The Cowboys finished the season 13-7.

On Friday, the Chimacum girls ran into a superstar player for Annie Wright and fell 77-21 to one of the best 1A teams in the state.

Annie Wright’s Julianne Walker hit seven 3-pointers and scored 42 points.

Chimacum was led by Jadeah Nordberg with five points.

Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News Clallam Bay’s Hannah Olson goes up for a layup during the Bruins’ 65-40 win over Rainier Christian on Thursday at Crescent High School. The Bruins also defeated Puget Sound Adventist Academy 65-32 Friday to advance to the Class 1B State Regional Round.

Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News Clallam Bay’s Hannah Olson goes up for a layup during the Bruins’ 65-40 win over Rainier Christian on Thursday at Crescent High School. The Bruins also defeated Puget Sound Adventist Academy 65-32 Friday to advance to the Class 1B State Regional Round.

GIRLS DISTRICT BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Neah Bay on to state, Sequim and Clallam Bay girls advance to state regional round

More in Sports

KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
Port Angeles' Kaleb Mullen, right, looks back at North Kitsap catcher Greyson Prichard after making it home in the second inning as Mullen's teammate, Rylan Politia waits to bat on Tuesday at Volunteer Field.
Sequim's Simon Hare (15) heads the ball against Bainbridge in Sequim on Tuesday. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
PREP SOCCER: Sequim narrowly loses to Bainbridge

Sequim scored first and came close to equalizing late, but… Continue reading

Forks' Gunner Rogers pitches to a Pe Ell/Willapa Valley batter in the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday at Fred Orr Park. Rogers was the winning pitcher in a 10-6 victory. (Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News)
AREA SPORTS BRIEFS: Kids’ fishing derby to be held April 6

The Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishers are sponsoring another Kids’… Continue reading

Port Angeles softball player Lynzee Reid pitches against Bremerton last week. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Lynzee Reid, Port Angeles softball

Port Angeles’ Lynzee Reid had a great week for the Roughriders softball… Continue reading

Klahhane gymnasts and brothers Liam and Conor DeWolf both won all-around state championships earlier this month in Vancouver. (Courtesy photo)
MEN’S GYMNASTICS: Klahhane brothers all-around state champs

Brothers Conor DeWolf, 16, and Liam DeWolf, 14, both won… Continue reading

Wings Up defeated the fall league champion I’d Hit That earlier this month 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 28-26) to win the Peninsula Volleyball League’s Winter League A Division championship at Peninsula College. Wings Up, made up of players mostly from the Sequim area, finished the regular season atop the standings with an 8-1 record before advancing through the playoffs. Set For Life placed third. From left, back row, are Ben Cowan, Cody Cowan and Jared Fodge. From left, front row, are Tayler Breckenridge, Brittney Gale and Tristen Myers. Not pictured is Allie Gale. (Peninsula College)

 
 

Photo (L-R) Ben Cowan, Cody Cowan, Jared Fodge

Tayler Breckenridge, Brittney Gale, Tristen Myers

Not pictured: Allie Gale
PENINSULA VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE: Wings up, Chewblocka champions and A and B leagues

(Top) Wings Up defeated the fall league champion I’d Hit That earlier… Continue reading

PREP BASEBALL: Rivals get solid pitching, but lose to Cascade Christian

The East Jefferson baseball team got an outstanding performance this… Continue reading