SEQUIM — It’s hard to believe that Sequim’s Jericho Julmist barely even touched a basketball last year.
This season, he absolutely erupted on the local basketball scene for Sequim, being a huge part of the team’s run to its first state 2A tournament in Yakima in 13 years.
And he did as a sophomore. Just imagine what he might accomplish over the next two years.
“I think for sure he is the best player on the Peninsula,” said Sequim head coach Craig Brooks. “While Solomon [Sheppard] won the league defensive player of the year, Jericho is also a very good defender.”
Julmist seemingly came out of nowhere. He was good enough as a freshman that he would have played varsity last year, Brooks said. But he broke his leg shortly before the season started during open gym and was only able to play in a couple of games at the end of the year.
Because of his amazing season for the Wolves, Julmist has been selected by the Peninsula Daily News as the All-Peninsula most valuable player in boys basketball.
Julmist put up no-doubt statistics for all-Peninsula MVP — He averaged 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals a game.
But it was the intangibles that really separated him from many other players. Time and again, Julmist came up huge in when it counted most. In a district tournament win over Foss, he scored 37, in a win-or-go-home district tournament game against Port Angeles, he scored 30. He scored 32 in a big league win over Olympic.
It was his fourth-quarter heroics that really set him apart. In the final regular-season game against Bremerton, he scored 26, including seven straight in the fourth to beat the Knights to earn a share of the Olympic League title. How good was Bremerton? All the Knights did was go on to win the 2A state championship.
At the state regionals game, Julmist entered the fourth quarter with just four points. He poured in 15 points in the fourth, six of those coming on a pair of 3-pointers, to lead the Wolves to a come-from-behind victory over Lindbergh, sending Sequim to the Yakima SunDome. He also hit a 60-foot shot at the halftime buzzer, followed by a clutch 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to help fend off Port Angeles in a regular-season win early in the year.
“The best players play best when they need to. He wanted that ball in his hands” at the end of games, Brooks said. “He also wanted to always guard the other team’s best player.
“He’s an awesome student as well,” Brooks said.
“It always feels good when you get recognition,” Julmist said.
In most years, Julmist would have been the Olympic League MVP for his accomplishments. The reason he wasn’t? Bremerton’s Jalen Davis, a fellow sophomore and already considered a Division 1A college prospect, put up unreal numbers all season long and was the consensus league MVP.
“He’s my teammate in AAU in Seattle. We’re a really good team,” Julmist said.
Julmist, who has a solid basketball pedigree with both his older sisters, Jayla and Jelissa, playing college basketball and his father Joclin the Sequim girls’ coach, has a unique offensive arsenal. While he can hit the 3-pointer and definitely drive the lane, he also has a pretty 15- to 17-foot midrange shot, an increasingly rare shot in today’s game that relies heavily on 3-pointers or lay-ups.
“All summer, my dad and I worked on that midrange shot,” Julmist said. He said there’s still a lot of improvements he wants to make to his game — he wants to improve his athleticism and improve his vertical leap. He also wants to improve his 3-point shooting.
Most of all, after getting to Yakima, Julmist got a taste of the state tournament. It was a short taste as the Wolves lasted just one game. That will fuel him next year.
“We have a lot of guys who want to go further,” he said.
“Absolutely, we want to be better next year,” said Brooks. “They’re looking forward to getting back [to state]. There’s a lot of unfinished business.”
The rest of the All-Peninsula boys basketball team:
Gus Halberg, Port Angeles
Halberg had an outstanding senior year for the Roughriders and would have been an All-Peninsula MVP in a lot of years. An Olympic League first-teamer, he averaged 21 points, five assists, five rebounds and 3.2 steals per game. He set a Port Angeles school record when he hit nine 3-pointers and scored 47 points against Olympic. He also played in the state seniors all-star game.
Solomon Sheppard, Sequim
Sheppard was named Olympic League Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 15.5 points per game, along with 5 rebounds and 3.7 steals a game. He led the Wolves by taking 10 charges during the season. He also entertained Sequim fans with several high-flying dunks.
Brody Lausche, Forks
Lausche was an absolute beast on the boards for the Spartans, especially down the stretch. Lausche averaged 14 points, 12 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game during the season. In the postseason, he was even better, averaging 17 points, 14 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a game. His season high in points was 29 and his season high in rebounds was 18.
Tyler Swan, Neah Bay
Swan was a huge part of Neah Bay making it all the way to the 1B state semifinal game at the Spokane Arena. The Red Devils nearly made it to the championship game, but lost to Lummi 49-45. The Red Devils ended up finishing fourth in the state.
Swan averaged 15.4 points and eight rebounds a game for Neah Bay. His best games were a 21-point, 21-rebound effort against LaConner and a 27-point game in the third-place game at the state tournament against DeSales.
Makyah Chambers, Neah Bay
Chambers was part of Neah Bay’s big one-two punch during the season. He was very consistent with 10 games with 18 points or more. He averaged 13.5 points, 3.3 steals and three assists a game. He also scored his 1,000th career point during his senior season.
Honorable mentions
Brock Hope, Port Angeles
Hope, a big presence inside at 6-foot-9, had a soft midrange touch. He averaged 10 points, six rebounds and 2.1 blocks a game, shooting 56 percent from the floor.
Julius Mercado, Luke O’Hara, East Jefferson
The future is bright for the East Jefferson Rivals as both O’Hara and Mercado had solid seasons. O’Hara, just a freshman, averaged 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Mercado, who was moved up to varsity midseason, averaged 10 points a game.
Henry Bourm, Josh Noel, Crescent
Bourm averaged 11.6 points and 6.8 rebounds a game for the Loggers, while Noel, just a freshman, averaged eight points and 9.8 rebounds a game. Noel had a 17-rebound game against Neah Bay.
