By Pierre LaBossiere and Michael Carman
Peninsula Daily News
PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend got 24 points from Jaz Apker-Montoya in her best game of the year, and managed to overcome poor free-throw shooting and rival Chimacum’s hard-pressing defense in a 54-46 Olympic 1A League win.
The win puts the Redhawks at 3-1 in league, all alone in first place, a half-game ahead of the Cowboys (2-1, 5-7).
Apker-Montoya hit four 3-pointers and scored eight points in the fourth quarter in Friday’s win. Coach Scott Wilson said she also drilled a number of long-range 2-pointers.
Kaitlyn Meek added 14 points for the Redhawks. Wilson also said Meek did a great job ball-handling against Chimacum’s pressing defense.
“Chimacum is a really good defensive team. Their girls are flying all over the place,” Wilson said. He also said Izzy Hammett did well inside, chipping in eight points.
“It was a classic Port Townsend-Chimacum rivalry game,” said Chimacum coach Trevor Huntingford.
The Redhawks were able to stay ahead of the Cowboys in a high-scoring, foul-plagued fourth quarter. The Cowboys outscored Port Townsend 20-18 in the fourth, as the Redhawks shot 4 for 17 from the free-throw line in the final quarter. Chimacum shot 5 for 11 from the line down the stretch.
For his team’s part, Huntingford said the Cowboys missed some open looks, especially in the first half, and had some breakdowns defensively allowing Apker-Montoya to get open on the perimeter.
Chimacum had good balance with Maddie Dowling scoring 12, Grace Yaley and Mia McNair 10 each and Jada Trafton nine.
Chimacum and Port Townsend have now split two games this season. Huntingford said the rivalry rubber match at Chimacum on Jan. 30 could be interesting with the two squads fighting for an Olympic 1A title.
The Redhawks vist Coupeville at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
The Cowboys host Coupeville at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Port Townsend 54, Chimacum 46
Chimacum 11 5 10 20 — 46
PT 13 7 16 18 — 54
Chimacum (46) — Dowling 12, Yaley 10, McNair 10, Trafton 9, Clark 2, Huntingford 2, Nordberg 1.
Port Townsend (54) — Apker-Montoya 24, Meek 14, Hemmett 8, King 5, Lake 3.
Port Angeles 48, Olympic 36
BREMERTON — The Roughriders took care of business in the final minutes and held back a late Trojan comeback in an Olympic League 2A Division road game.
“We led by 16 going into the fourth quarter, aided by Mikkiah Brady’s seven third-quarter points,” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said. “We eventually were up 40-24 with about five minutes left, but Olympic went on a 10-0 run to close the gap to 40-34. Olympic hit 8 of 13 free throws in the final quarter.”
But the Riders had one last run in them and put the game away.
“We responded with an 8-2 run to end the game,” Poindexter said. “Madison Cooke hit two big 3-point shots to give us a cushion in the last couple of minutes of the game.”
Poindexter said Port Angeles didn’t shoot all that well, hitting 34 percent for the night, “but we took good shots overall, and I was happy with most of our shot choices.
“Our defense was solid for us throughout the game.”
The Riders (4-1, 8-3) visit North Mason (1-4, 6-6)
Port Angeles 48, Olympic 36
PA 11 12 15 10— 48
Olympic 8 5 9 13— 36
Port Angeles (48) — E. Long 12, Brady 11, Cooke 8, Wood 7, Long 3, Gray 3, Wheeler 2, Edwards 2, Wenzl, Steinman, Politika, Olsen.
Olympic (36) — Mitchell 11, Matheny 10, Triggs 6, Kroesser 4, Willis 2, Riley 2, Williams 1.
.
Neah Bay 70, Crescent 15
JOYCE — The Red Devils, ranked No. 2 in the WIAA’s RPI rankings among 1B schools, improved to 9-1 with a North Olympic 1B League win over the Loggers.
Twelve different players scored for Neah Bay in Friday’s win. Five Red Devils had at least eight points. Ruth Moss led the team with 15 points, while Cheyanna Svec scored 10, Gina McCaulley nine and Kayla Winck and Courtney Swan eight each.
Hannah Lee led Crescent with five points while Taneshia Kazlauskas scored four.
Neah Bay (1-0, 9-1) plays at home at 6 p.m. Wednesday against Clallam Bay.
Crescent (0-1, 0-8) plays at Chief Kitsap at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Neah Bay 70, Crescent 15
Neah Bay 16 18 28 8 — 70
Crescent 6 6 3 0 — 15
Neah Bay (70) — Moss 15, Svec 10, McCaulley 9, Winck 8, C. Swan 8, P. Swan, Balderson 4, Greene 2, Woodruff 2, Delk 2, Yallup 2.
Crescent (15) — Lee 5, Kazlauskus 4, Mandeville 2, Baillargeon 2, Westfall 2.
Boys Basketball Port Townsend 64, Chimacum 36
CHIMACUM — The Redhawks picked up a rivalry win and sealed the season series against the Cowboys but they had to work for it, according to coach Tom Webster.
“We were playing on the road, it was loud out there they had the band going and its a PT-Chimacum rivalry game, so they came out fired up,” Webster said of Chimacum.
Port Townsend led 31-22 after the second quarter, with the Cowboys playing harder on the boards than their rivals.
“Chimacum has some young kids and they outhustled us for a half,” Webster said. “Their kids came to play.
“As a coaching staff we had to get on our kids at halftime, because we were getting outrebounded.”
With their defensive focus turned up and aimed at cutting out second-chance opportunities, the Redhawks broke through and posted a 23-6 third quarter to put the game away.
“The kids came out and responded well and we blew them out in the third,” Webster said. “We just challenged them to rebound better and attacked their zone defense better and got some easy baskets. Defense and fundamentals travel on the road so you have to do those things.”
Kaiden Parcher led Port Townsend with 20 points, along with four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Jackson Foster narrowly missed out on a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots for the Redhawks. Robert Hammett added seven points and seven rebounds and Jaden Watkins scored seven with five steals.
“He’s been on and off the shelf all year for us with injuries, but he adds athleticism and shooting for us,” Webster said.
And Webster said point guards Jacob Boucher and Kavi Baabahar committed zero turnovers.
Port Townsend (3-1, 6-5) hosts Coupeville (1-0, 3-7) on Tuesday. The Redhawks lost to the Wolves earlier this season 44-41.
Port Townsend 64, Chimacum 36
PT 19 12 23 10— 64
Chimacum 10 12 6 8— 36
Port Townsend (64) — Parcher 20, Foster 14, Lake 8, Hammett 7, Watkins 7, Boucher 2, Montoya 2, Babaahar 2, Crawford 2.
Chimacum (36) — Dickerson 12, Slagle 8, Dotson 6, Diehl 8, Williamson 2.
Neah Bay 63, Crescent 32
JOYCE — The Red Devils have struggled early in the season with injuries and breaking in younger players, but won their second game in a row and their North Olympic League opener, beating the Loggers 63-32.
Keith Johnson led Neah Bay in scoring with 21 and Sean Bitegeko, who missed time earlier this season, added 18. The Red Devils also held down Crescent’s high-scoring KC Spencer, who scored eight. The Loggers, who had their four-game winning streak snapped, were led by Brendan Bergstrom with nine.
After the first quarter, the score was tied 7-7, but the Red Devils seized control in the second and third quarters, outscoring the Loggers 20-12 in the second and 21-4 in the third.
“We shot really poorly and their length really gave us problems. They really clamped down on defense and we struggled. We were in the game at halftime but did not come out of the locker room after the half and got smacked in the mouth. Once the shots started not falling things snowballed and it got out of hand in a hurry,” said Crescent coach Chris Ferrier.
Michael Shaw chipped in eight points for the Red Devils.
Neah Bay (1-0, 3-7) hosts Clallam Bay at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday. Crescent (0-1, 5-5) plays a nonleague game at 5:45 p.m. Monday at Sulamita Christian in Mulkiteo.
“We will get better, we’ve already improved so much, but we can’t be satisfied with what we’ve already accomplished, because at the end of the day we are 0-1 in league,” Ferrier said of the Loggers.
Neah Bay 63, Crescent 32
Neah Bay 7 20 21 15 — 63
Crescent 7 12 4 9 — 32
Neah Bay (63) — Johnson 21, Bitegeko 18, Shaw 8, Martinez 3, Claplanhoo 3, Loyik 2, Engram 2, Kallappa 2, Croy 2, Brunk 2.
Crescent (32) — Bergstrom 9, Spencer 8, Owens 5, Emery 5, Cox 3, Leonard 2.
Chief Kitsap 59, Clallam Bay 41
CLALLAM BAY — Down to six players due to injuries and a player leaving the team, the Bruins battled for three quarters but tired late.
“We were within two in the third quarter,” Clallam Bay coach Kelly Gregory said. “They pulled out a couple times on us in the first half and we kept coming back to keep it close.
Gregory said Chief Kitsap put on a man-press all game.
“We just ran out of gas and had two many turnovers,” he said. We just need to take care of the ball a little better.”
Ryan McCoy led the Bruins with 24 points. Caiton Smith added 10.
“We are getting more aggessive,” Gregory said. “We did better on the boards, but having trouble with turnovers.”
Clallam Bay (0-1, 1-7) hosts rival Neah Bay on Tuesday.
Chief Kitsap 59, Clallam Bay 41
Chief Kitsap 11 18 7 23— 59
Clallam Bay 6 15 13 7— 41
Clallam Bay (59) — Smith 10, Aldana 3, Eastwood 2, Strid 2, McCoy 24.
