SEQUIM — Sequim put together its finest performance of the season in all facets of the game, erasing a 9-point first-half deficit and surging past previous Olympic League girls basketball unbeaten and Peninsula rival Port Angeles 58-51 on Friday at Rick Kaps Gym.
Wolves point guard Gracie Chartraw led the way with 30 points on 11-of-26 shooting, alternately launching and draining NBA-range 3-pointers, blowing past Roughriders on her way to the rack for layups on offense and making a pest of herself defensively with numerous steals and solid rebounding.
Chartraw added seven steals and five rebounds.
“She played amazing help defense,” Sequim coach Joclin Julmist said.
The Wolves actually committed more turnovers (21) than Port Angeles (19), but the Wolves scored 12 points off of turnovers while the Riders were limited to one basket off a Sequim mistake.
Rebounding also went Sequim’s way as each team grabbed 13 offensive boards, but the Wolves cashed in 11 second-chance points while Port Angeles mananged just one basket after collecting an offensive miss.
Chartraw was strong down the stretch, hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer, finding teammate Kaiya Robinson for her third 3-pointer of the game from her preferred spot in the corner and knocked down 5-of-8 free throws late to keep Port Angeles’ charge mostly at bay.
“Kaiya had some timely 3-point shots,” Julmist said.
Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter tipped the proverbial cap to Sequim.
“They played a great game, they shot the ball extraordinarily well,” Poindexter said of Sequim. “Gracie played great, she was attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line. But it was more than the Chartraw show, Hailey Wagner made some big plays, Robinson hit big 3s and they played great.”
“Hailey was a warrior tonight she had seven rebounds and five points,” Julmist said.
Nevaeh Owens hit both of her shots and a free throw to score five points with four boards and “played great help-side defense.”
The Riders were without one starter and two other rotation players Friday.
“We were hit by fatigue tonight, we were missing starter Morgan Politika who scored 16 against them in the first game and who is really good at getting in shooters’ face in our 1-3-1 zone,” Poindexter said. We also were down Storey Schmidt and London Bourland who can rebound and score inside to illness, so we had seven players and it was evident.”
Port Angeles senior Teanna Clark opened on fire, scoring 13 of her 15 points in the first quarter, and the Riders held a 25-16 lead midway through the second quarter.
That’s right around the time Port Angeles appeared to lose a little focus as a Robinson 3-pointer and a Chartraw layup in the final minute trimmed the lead to 28-25 at halftime.
“The one big downside tonight is effort on defense and on the boards,” Poindexter said. “Our fatigue really impacted the rotations and it became clear we weren’t going to outdefend them, so we had to outscore them and we didn’t have it.”
Lindsay Smith led Port Angeles with 17 points but had to work for it.
“Jordyn was incredible on the defensive side guarding their best player [Smith], “Joclin Julmist said. “She had nine points, four rebounds and three assists, a great game.”
Despite the loss, Port Angeles remains all alone in first place in the Olympic League, while Sequim is in third place still with a chance to catch second-place Bainbridge.
The Riders (10-1, 12-6) visit North Kitsap on Saturday and Bremerton on Tuesday.
Sequim (9-3, 10-5) is at North Kitsap on Tuesday.
Sequim 58, Port Angeles 51
PA 15 13 10 13 — 51
Sequim 14 11 13 20 — 58
Port Angeles (51) —Smith 17, Clark 15, Doherty 9, Walton 3, Stevens 3.
Sequim (58) — Chartraw 30, Julmist 9, Robinson 9, Wagner 5, V. Owens 5.
