By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
SEQUIM — On paper, the Sequim basketball girls didn’t have that much to play for, locked in to third place in the Olympic League 2A Division win or lose, but the Wolves put a huge scare into league champion Port Angeles in the first half.
In the second half, the Roughriders showed why they are the undisputed champions of the Olympic League 2A, going on a huge 28-7 rally to beat the Wolves 64-55 to grab the championship.
A loss would have put the Roughriders into a tie with North Kitsap for first and would have forced Port Angeles to play a tiebreaker game for the No. 1 playoff seed — which is exactly what the Roughrider boys are doing Saturday.
“We would have been OK with playing North Kitsap. I’d rather not,” said Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter.
The Wolves played an inspired first half, closing the second quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 28-25 lead into the break. Much of that damage was done by Hope Glasser, who scored six points in the final three minutes of the half, with Kalli Wiker adding a big 3-pointer during the run.
When asked what he said at halftime, Poindexter said, “we talked about character. About confidence. We were jittery.
“The halftime message was basically about fight … about fighting back. I’m very proud of how they played in the second half,” Poindexter said.
“If we could’ve just gotten past that third quarter,” said Sequim coach Linsay Rapelje. “To Port Angeles’ credit, they’re a great team. I’m so proud of our kids, they held their own.
“I told the girls, ‘win or lose, we’re going to be the third-place team, so just have fun tonight.’ And they did,” she said.
Sequim can take pride in its best season in over 10 years and in giving the league champions a hard time in two games this year.
Both squads will be going to the West Central District 3 2A tournament, with Port Angeles (11-1, 17-3) getting a bye and a home game Saturday.
Sequim (8-4, 13-6) will start off playing the No. 6 seed out of the South Puget Sound League (to be determined in a league tournament) on Feb. 7 on the road.
Back to Thursday’s game, the Roughriders responded after halftime with a 12-0 run to retake control of the game at 37-28, with Jaida Wood hitting a pair of 3-pointers (she had four treys for the game), then opened up the lead to 53-35 at the end of the third.
Sequim could have been excused for getting their heads down at that point, but the Wolves weren’t done making the Roughriders work for it. The Wolves showed why they are having their best season in over a decade with one big run in the fourth quarter.
Sequim opened the fourth with a 10-0 run with Kalli Wiker hitting a pair of 3-pointers and scoring eight points in 2½ minutes to make the score 53-45 with 5:30 left.
However, Madi Cooke, who was all-everything in this game, scored seven straight points, punctuated by an old-fashioned three-point play, as the Riders ended doubt of the outcome by opening up a 60-45 lead with less than four minutes left.
Poindexter thought both Cooke and Sequim’s Jayla Julmist had outstanding games on the boards. Julmist led the Wolves with 15 boards, while Cooke had 11.
Cooke led the Roughriders with 23 points and nearly had a triple-double with eight assists, while Jaida Wood had 14 points and Bailee Larson 12, nine of which came in that big third quarter. Larson also had five steals. Eve Burke had 13 rebounds to go with eight points..
Wiker had 14 points for the Wolves, hitting four 3-pointers, while Julmist had 12 points. Glasser scored 10.
This is the most games the Wolves have won since 2006-07, when they went 13-12.
The Port Angeles girls won league despite losing one of their leading players, Millie Long, to a broken finger. Two other players, Myra Walker and Aeverie Politika, were watching the Sequim game wearing ankle boots. Poindexter said all three girls are not returning to the lineup for the foreseeable future.
Long, last year’s Olympic League 2A Division MVP, said, “I was kind of upset that I can’t play, but I’m super excited [about the championship]. I definitely wish I could be out there. I think they’re doing pretty well without me, honestly.”
Port Angeles 64, Sequim 55
PA 13 12 28 11 — 64
Sequim 10 18 7 20 — 55
Port Angeles (64) — Cooke 23, Wood 14, Larson 12, Burke 8, Brady 7.
Sequim (55) — Wiker 14, Julmist 12, Glasser 10, Dietzman 6, Sparks 4, Porter 5, Schroeder 4.
