PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend cruised to a sweep in what was likely the last boys and girls basketball rivalry doubleheader between the Chimacum Cowboys and the Port Townsend Redskins, barring a postseason matchup later this year.
The two teams will still face each other, but beginning next school year all Port Townsend sports teams will assume an as-yet-unknown moniker after a controversial decision to retire the Redskins mascot was made last June.
Trophies were on the line in each game: the Port Townsend girls claimed the Janelle Perillo Trophy, named for a former Chimacum player who succumbed to cancer, with a 55-22 victory, and the Redskins boys earned the Widge Black Trophy, named for the longtime referee and PTHS athletic supporter, with a 58-33 win against their rivals.
The Port Townsend boys (2-5, 4-6) earned some payback as well as the trophy, getting revenge for a 70-64 loss to Chimacum at home in the Crush in the Slush Tournament on Dec. 27.
“We wore our older Redskins uniforms on our home floor and wanted to make it special for Coach [Tim] Black [Widge Black’s son and a Port Townsend assistant coach] and his whole family, and our senior class, it was their last crack at this baby and they were up for it,” Port Townsend coach Tom Webster said.
Redskins post Skyler Coppenrath was back in the starting lineup after missing the Crush in the Slush, and his presence inside was felt early, both on the scoreboard and on the glass.
Coppenrath scored the Redskins first two buckets, 10 on the game, while hauling down rebounds that lead to second-chance scoring opportunities throughout the game for Port Townsend.
“Skyler’s got a really good motor and he got some putbacks and really finished well around the basket,” Webster said.
A basket by James Porter gave Chimacum (0-5, 1-8) a 10-7 lead with 2:55 to play in the first quarter, the last time Chimacum would hold the advantage in the game.
The teams were tied at 15-apiece after one quarter and Chimacum came as close as one point, 21-20 with 4:45 to go until halftime before Port Townsend closed the period on a 12-3 run, punctuated by a long-distance 3-point buzzer beater by Cody Russell.
Russell had 11 on the night for the Redskins.
Paul Spaltenstein had eight of his 15 points in the second period, tying with teammate Sean Dwyer for high-scoring honors.
Port Townsend switched up their defense after halftime, moving from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone and Chimacum couldn’t adjust, with PT forcing turnovers or the Cowboys failing to hit from outside when they did find holes in the zone.
“We weren’t in major foul trouble but we did have a couple of guys close (Coppenrath and King each had two fouls at halftime) and we wanted to see how they would react to it,” Webster said.
The closest Chimacum could come to catching the Redskins in the second half was an inside bucket by freshman Lane Dotson that pulled the Cowboys within eight, 38-30 with 5:20 left in the third.
Port Townsend held Chimacum to just two points in the fourth quarter.
Webster attributed the lockdown defense to a change in styles from the first game to the second.
“We pressed them the whole game last time and got some turnovers out of it, yes, but they got some layups out of it and the pace of the game was much faster.
“Our second-half defense was better because we were fresher and our legs were there.”
Port Townsend 58, Chimacum 33
Chimacum 15 8 8 2— 33
Port Townsend 15 18 13 12— 58
Individual scoring
Chimacum (0-7)
Naylor 8, Carthum 8, Weller 7, Porter 5, Hitt 3, Dotson 2.
Port Townsend (4-5)
Spaltenstein 15, Dwyer 15, Russell 11, Coppenrath 10, Charlton 4, King 3.
Girls Basketball
Port Townsend 55, Chimacum 22
Port Townsend rolled against their rivals, taking the lead with 3:45 to play in the first quarter and never looking back in the nonleague contest.
Redskins (3-4, 6-5) coach Randy Maag owed the motivated performance to an ego-building victory on Tuesday against Bremerton, the program’s first in “years” against the typically-top flight Knights.
“I think confidence-wise beating Bremerton really helped our girls, and also the team realizes there is only 10-11 games left in the season and I think we are getting better every week,” Maag said.
Port Townsend led 11-6 after one period and 21-9 at halftime after holding Chimacum (0-5, 0-7) scoreless until the 2:11 mark of the second quarter.
Senior point guard Jewel Johnson led all scorers with 16 points, including four 3-point baskets.
“They did a little box-and-one [defense] on her but she can run all day long and never gets tired and she was too quick.”
Port Townsend stayed stingy in the third quarter, limiting Chimacum to just one basket to take a 36-11 lead into the fourth quarter.
“I’m really happy with our defense,” Maag said.
“The help is there, we did a much better job of not getting beat off the dribble and it helps to have Jayde [Richardson] in there to clean up on rebounds.”
Richardson had 11 points and 18 rebounds for Port Townsend.
Patricia Reeves added eight points and four blocked shots and Annie Meek chipped in with seven points.
Samantha Cerna led Chimacum with seven.
Port Townsend 55, Chimacum 22
Chimacum 6 3 2 11— 22
Port Townsend 11 10 15 19— 55
Individual scoring
Chimacum
Cerna 7, Nisbet 5, Snyder 4, Thacker 2, Nordberg 2, Dukek 2.
Port Townsend
Johnson 16, Richardson 11, Reeves 8, Meek 7, Lee 5, Olin 4, Rutenbeck 4.