CHIMACUM — The Port Townsend boys basketball team was able to accomplish something the youthful squad had trouble with at times this season in a 59-50 victory over rival Chimacum.
Namely, hold onto a late lead and finish out a game successfully.
In their final game of the season, the Redhawks held off their opponent Monday with clutch steals and late baskets to staunch a Cowboys fourth-quarter comeback attempt.
Port Townsend’s (3-6, 3-16) six Olympic League 1A Division losses this season came by a combined 27 points.
Many of these contests featured late-game struggles, with the Redhawks watching leads dry up in eventual losses, including Port Townsend’s two previous losses this year to
Chimacum (6-3, 7-12).
This game, which doubled as senior night for the Cowboys, was different.
Jacob Ralls had the hot hand from the opening tip, putting up 12 of his first 24 points in the first quarter to put the Redhawks up 18-11 after one period.
“I wasn’t feeling hot in pregame warmups at all, honestly,” Ralls said.
“When I got out on the court though, I felt it as soon as I made that first shot. So I wanted to convert for my team offensively and do the best that I could for them.”
Port Townsend took advantage of a slow start by Chimacum, with the Cowboys turning the ball over on their first three possessions and missing their first three shots.
Chimacum, the 1A division champion, didn’t play like the league’s top playoff seed.
“I can give all the rah-rah speeches in the world but the effort has to come from the boys,” Cowboys coach Jim Eldridge said.
“They have to care and be ready to go from the beginning of the game and they weren’t.”
Chimacum had trouble containing the Redhawks off the dribble, with Port Townsend able to penetrate into the heart of the Cowboys defense before either shooting close or swinging it out for 3-point shots.
“The energy was not there defensively,” Eldridge said.
“There was no help-side defense, which is something we work on all the time, and it really looked like we were floating around out there.”
A Victor Hitt 3-pointer trimmed the Redhawks lead to 24-23 with 2:12 before halftime, but 3’s by freshman Detrius Kelsall and Ralls helped key a 10-4 run and give Port Townsend a 34-27 halftime advantage.
The Redhawks’ lead grew to as much as 15, 48-33 with 1:57 in the third quarter, before a John Carthum 3 and a basket by Lane Dotson pulled the Cowboys within 48-38 after three periods. .
Chimacum cut the lead in the final frame by going to their two 6-foot-5 posts, Orion Weller and Brendon Naylor.
The pair hit for buckets over the top of the shorter Port Townsend players to close to within five, 52-47, with 4:30 to play.
But the Cowboys went away from going inside for the next few minutes and couldn’t take advantage of a nearly four-minute scoreless streak by the Redhawks.
“We were just not being patient enough offensively, “ Eldridge said.
“We have the bread-and-butter down low and they mentally check out.
“Orion got on a roll right there and I wanted to keep feeding him, and then we were never able to get him a shot again after that run we had and he was the one we wanted to go to.”
Weller led his team with 18 points and Naylor added nine.
Chimacum did pull within 52-50 with 1:26 to go after Naylor scored and converted a three-point play after being fouled.
Ralls though, had an answer, dribbling right-to-left and hitting a leaning runner with the shot clock running down for a 54-50 lead with 54 seconds to go.
Kelsall then intercepted a Cowboys’ pass and raced out for a layup and a six-point lead with 25.5 seconds left.
He finished with 14 points.
Kelsall then poked the ball away from Chimacum on the next possession, leading to Ralls burying a corner 3-pointer as time expired.
“When we played Coupeville last time [Feb. 3] they got like five consecutive steals on us at the end of the game and it just tore us apart,” Ralls said.
“And I feel like that’s what we did there. We got those consecutive steals to bring the game back for us.”
Eldridge was left to figure out a way to get his team prepared for the district tournament.
Chimacum will play the winner of Coupeville/Cascade Christian at Sumner High School at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17.
“It’s frustrating, Eldridge said.
“It’s senior night, you expect them to be pumped up and we came out flat.
“They outplayed us tonight, they outhustled us and they wanted it more.
“We aren’t going to win many games when we don’t play defense so we have to do better there.”
Port Townsend coach Tom Webster was pleased to see his team end its season with a win, but was left wanting a taste of the playoffs.
“It’s a good win but I’d absolutely trade it in a heartbeat to be in the playoffs,” Webster said.
Port Townsend 59, Chimacum 50
Port Townsend 18 16 14 11— 59
Chimacum 11 16 11 12— 50
Individual scoring
Port Townsend (59)
Ralls 24, Kelsall 14, Charlton 9, Parcher 4, Adkins 4, Sua 2, Easley 2, Seton Dances, Hill, .
Chimacum (50)
Weller 18, Naylor 9, Carthum 8, Porter 4, Koenig 3, Hitt 3, Bainbridge 3, Dotson 2,
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.