SEQUIM — The North Kitsap boys basketball team has been beating up on the rest of the Olympic League for a long time. Now, it’s Sequim’s turn to be the big dog in the league.
The Wolves continued to put their stamp on the 2024-25 season, pushing their record to 10-0 after crushing a dangerous Vikings team 74-46. Sequim got up 40-15 midway through the second quarter and the game was never remotely close after that.
And again, for the 10th straight game, the Wolves did not allow their opponent to score 50 points.
Jericho Julmist led the team with 27 points and 16 rebounds. Charlie Grider had 10 points, Mason Rapelje nine and Hunter Tennell eight as the Wolves again had balance with eight players scoring at least four points.
Sequim (6-0, 10-0) will next get its biggest test of the season tonight on the road against a very good Bremerton team (5-1, 6-3) at 7 p.m. in a battle for first place in the Olympic League.
Bremerton 66, Port Angeles 52
PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles boys basketball team got off to a disastrous start against a powerful Bremerton team Friday night, recovered well enough to make a game of it, but could never get the score back within single digits in a 66-52 loss.
Bremerton, which has blown out numerous opponents this year, including a shocking 91-22 win over North Kitsap, got off to a 23-0 start against the Riders in the first 7½ minutes.
Blake Sohlberg hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in the quarter for the Riders’ first points of the game. He hit another 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer.
Sohlberg ended up scoring 11 straight points, hitting a third 3-pointer early in the second quarter, and Gus Halberg added a 3-pointer of his own as the Riders clawed back on a 14-2 run to make the game competitive.
The Riders three times in the first half got the lead down to 11 points, but every time they did, Bremerton went on a mini-run to get the lead back up close to 20 points and Port Angeles could never manage a big run again. Still, after that terrible start, they did end up outscoring Bremerton 52-43 for the final 24½ minutes of the game.
The Riders shot well from beyond the arc with 11 3-pointers. Sohlberg had five treys for 17 total points while Halberg had four 3-pointers and led the team with 18 points. Hunter Flores also hit a pair of 3-pointers.
The Riders (1-5, 4-7) played at Neah Bay (6-1) on Monday, then play at Kingston (0-6, 1-10) today, entering an easier stretch of league play.
Life Christian 64, East Jefferson 29
TACOMA — The East Jefferson boys struggled with their shooting in a 64-29 loss to Life Christian on Friday, snapping a two-game win streak.
Julius Mercado came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers and scored 17 to lead East Jefferson.
The Rivals (3-6) next host Charles Wright (0-2, 3-9) at 7 p.m. Monday in Port Townsend.
Other games
In other Saturday games, the Forks boys basketball team beat Concrete 68-31, Tulalip Heritage beat Neah Bay 72-52 and Shoreline Christian beat Crescent 56-48.
Girls recap
Port Angeles 55, Bremerton 25
BREMERTON — The Port Angeles girls basketball team overcame a slow start to crush Bremerton the rest of the way, cruising to a 55-25 road win Friday to improve to 3-2 in the Olympic League.
The Roughriders turned up their defense to smother the Knights over the final three quarters, allowing just 13 points in 24 minutes.
Lindsay Smith led the team with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists, doing much of her damage on steals and offensive putbacks. Teanna Clark had 10 points and seven steals, while Morgan Politika had one of her best games of the year with nine points on 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc to go along with five steals. Storey Schmidt had seven rebounds.
The Riders (3-2, 6-5) next host Kingston (2-4, 5-8) at 7 p.m. today.
East Jefferson 56, Life Christian 49
TACOMA — The East Jefferson girls won their fourth straight, beating Life Christian 56-49 behind another great game by the quartet of Kat Botkin, Penina Vailolo, Teri Wiley and Dylin Shockley.
The Rivals got five 3-pointers and 28 points from Shockley, her second huge game in a row. She scored 30 in a win last week against Klahowya.
Botkin, meanwhile, had 19 points and nine assists, while Vailolo had 20 rebounds to go with 12 points. Wiley had her usual big contribution with eight rebounds and six steals. Kaydence Plotner had seven rebounds.
East Jefferson (5-6) played Charles Wright on Monday.
Olympic 45, Sequim 42
N. Kitsap 54, Sequim 23
SEQUIM — The Sequim girls basketball team played Olympic tough but fell in a close one at home Saturday, 45-42.
Hailey Wagner led the team with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Libby Turella had 10 points and four steals.
Gracie Chartraw had six points, five rebounds and four steals, and Taylor Heyting had five points and six rebounds.
The Sequim girls also lost 54-23 loss at North Kitsap on Friday.
Chartraw led the Wolves with 14 points, five rebounds and four steals. Heyting had five points and six rebounds.
Sequim (1-4, 2-7) hosts Bremerton (0-6, 0-7) at 7 p.m. today.
Crescent 22, Shoreline Christian 18
SHORELINE — The Crescent girls basketball team, starting three eighth-graders and with only one girl on the bench, came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat Shoreline Christian 22-18.
Naomii Sprague led the Loggers with 17 points and seven steals. She also had 29 points against Easton.
The three eighth-graders, Kali Hopper, Lexi Buck and Ella Kneiss — all played well. Hopper had seven rebounds, Buck 10 rebounds, five of them on the offensive boards, and Kneiss played up top with Sprague on the defense.
Crescent (4-5 overall) next plays at Clallam Bay at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Editor’s Note: The weekly basketball recap feature contains information already published online over the weekend and in Monday’s e-edition for the Peninsula Daily News print-only readers.
