PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend basketball boys got off to a hot start against 2A Tyee, quickly building up a 13-0 lead in the finale of the Crush in the Slush.
But the Redhawks had to hang on tight down the stretch and needed some clutch plays in the final seconds to pull out a hard-fought 57-56 win over the Totems.
It wasn’t a pretty win for the Redhawks as both teams had a ton of turnovers, but Port Townsend will take it.
“I told the guys we could stay with this team,” said coach Tom Webster. “They turned us over a lot, but we turned them over too. It was an exciting game.”
The Redhawks got off to a scorching start and appeared to be on their way to an easy win, building up a 15-4 lead after the first quarter. The Totems, a very tall team with a bunch of 6-foot players with long arms, went into a press and stayed in it for much of the game.
And at times that pressing gave Port Townsend trouble and forced a lot of turnovers. The Redhawks eventually started to break down the press, leading to easy layups from Noa Montoya, who effectively finished at the basket time and again.
Montoya scored over half the Redhawks’ points, ending up with 29 points and 11 rebounds, but it was a flurry of plays from Aiden Petta in the final minute of the game that sealed the win for Port Townsend.
Petta didn’t end up with a lot of stats — just five points for the game, but he contributed when it was most needed.
The Redhawks had led almost the entire game and actually had a 9-point lead at 54-45 with just 3:30 left in the game. But Tyee defenders forced several turnovers and the Totems tied the game at 54-54 with 2 minutes left.
A good-looking Montoya 3-pointer rattled halfway down the well but popped out at 1:36. Tyee got the rebound and the Totems’ Gage Tofi drew a foul and made two free throws with 37 seconds left to give Tyee a 56-54 lead. The Redhawks had led probably 30 minutes of the game but were deeply in danger of losing at this point.
Then Petta took over. First he hit an open jumper to tie the game at 56-all. On the ensuing possession, he stole the ball and was fouled as he started a fast break down the court.
Petta made one out of two free throws with 11 seconds left to give the Redhawks a 57-56 lead. After a jump ball went to Tyee, the Totems got the ball into the frontcourt with less than 5 seconds left. The Totems couldn’t get a shot off, however, as Petta blocked their last-second shot attempt to end the game. That’s a game-tying bucket, a steal, a drawn foul, a go-ahead free throw and a game-ending block all in the final 30 seconds.
“[Petta] didn’t start the game, but he finished the game well,” Webster said.
“I was doing anything I could do to get the win,” Petta said.
“Their press gave us a hard time at the first, but we started breaking it,” Petta said. “They were big.”
Petta and Webster both said this is the kind of tough win that the Redhawks can build on for the rest of the season.
“I want to take this energy into our next game,” Petta said.
“A game like this only helps us down the road,” Webster said.
Montoya also had six steals to go with his other stats.
“He really has to carry the load, he did a great job,” Webster said.
While Montoya did most of the scoring, everyone on the Redhawks contributed as seven out of the eight players on the bench scored.
Kesem Coggins had five points and six steals while Lonnie Kenney hit a pair of 3-pointers and had seven assists. Evan Toner had eight rebounds and Skyler Zabransky four assists.
In other Crush in the Slush results from Saturday, the Port Townsend girls lost to Olympic 58-30 and the Cedarcrest girls beat Neah Bay 75-46, while Granite Falls beat the Chimacum boys 64-26.
The Port Townsend boys (1-1, 2-6) are off until Jan. 7, when they will play at Kingston (0-4, 0-8).
Port Townsend 57, Tyee 56
Tyee 4 19 16 17 — 56
PT 15 16 12 14 — 57
Tyee (56) — Traore 16, Ali 11, Deressa 10, Tofi 9, Mohamed 4, Keomahavong 4.
Port Townsend (57) — Montoya 29, Kenney 6, Petta 5, Zabransky 5, Toner 5, Harris 4, Coggins 3.
