SEQUIM — Zach Thompson and Charlie Grider each scored 16 points — with Grider tallying 16 on his 16th birthday — as the Sequim boys basketball team walloped North Mason 64-44 to remain right in the thick of the postseason hunt.
With the victory, the Wolves are 5-6 in the Olympic 2A League, in third place among the 2A schools, a game ahead of both Bremerton and Olympic. Port Angeles and North Kitsap are at the top of the league battling for the title tonight and 7-4 Bainbridge moves on to a 3A postseason tournament.
The Wolves got up on North Mason 21-11 after the first quarter and never looked back. Cole Smithson went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line and scored nine points, while Vince Carrizosa scored eight. Grider added seven rebounds and Thompson four assists. Isaiah Moore had four steals.
Despite winning by 20, the Wolves made just one 3-pointer all game (by Garrett Little). They got to the free-throw line 29 times, however, making 17. They had 14 steals and forced 25 North Mason turnovers.
Sequim (5-6, 7-10) plays at Kingston (3-8, 3-11) on Friday night with a chance to further solidify its playoff position as Bremerton has tough games coming up against Bainbridge and North Kitsap. Sequim hosts Olympic next Tuesday in what will likely be a critical game for the Wolves.
Sequim 64, North Mason 44
NM 11 15 7 11 — 44
Seq. 21 14 13 16 — 64
North Mason (44) — McCormick 15, Littrean 11, Morris 6, Stanky 4, Alverks 3, Revelez 3, Huffman 2.
Sequim (73) — Thompson 16, Grider 16, Smithson 9, Carrizosa 8, Moore 6, Little 5, Wiker 2, Mote 2.
Port Angeles 48, Bainbridge 46
BAINBRIDGE — Playing without an injured starter Isaiah Shamp, the Port Angeles boys basketball team gutted out a low-scoring hard-fought 48-46 win Tuesday over 3A Bainbridge.
Coach Kasey Ulin said the Roughriders didn’t always play extremely well throughout the game, but that it was a gritty win.
“Playing without Isaiah, it says a lot about the character of those guys,” Ulin said. “That was [among the] proudest I’ve ever been of the guys.”
The victory sets up yet another monster battle with North Kitsap tonight with the league title possibly on the line.
“This is the fifth time we’ve played North Kitsap late in the year with the league championship on the line,” Ulin said.
The Bainbridge game was close throughout with neither team able to build up a big lead. It came down to the final 45 seconds when Parker Nickerson scored four straight points. He hit a bucket to tie it at 46-46 and the Roughriders got a stop. Nickerson followed up with a floater with three seconds left to give the Riders a two-point lead. On the final possession, Josiah Long got a steal to seal the victory.
“The kids were poised down the stretch,” Ulin said.
Nickerson led the Riders with 19 points. Tyler Hunter had one of his better games recently with 15 points and 12 rebounds, though he had to sit for a spell in the first half with foul trouble.
With Shamp (6-foot-5) and Hunter (6-foot-7) both out for a time, Ezra Townsend and Parab Seera had to come in and play critical minutes inside. They combined for seven points and 12 rebounds.
The win keeps the Riders (10-1, 12-6) in position to force a two-way Olympic 2A League tie with North Kitsap (11-0, 13-4). Tip-off for tonight’s game is at 7 p.m. Earlier this season, the Vikings held on to beat the Riders in Poulsbo 64-56.
Ulin said Shamp has a sprained ankle and wants to play tonight, especially since he had a tough game against the Vikings earlier this year. “He has a chip on his shoulder,” he said.
Port Angeles 48, Bainbridge 46
PA 6 16 13 13 — 48
BB 7 11 19 9 — 46
Port Angeles (48) — Nickerson 19, Hunter 15, Seera 5, Long 3, Albaugh 2, Dunning 2, Townsend 2.
Crescent 48, Chief Kitsap 11
JOYCE — The Crescent boys basketball team got off to a 10-0 start in the first quarter and went on to win easily 48-11 over Chief Kitsap to improve to 10-4 overall on the season.
“It was a good day to get everyone playing time,” said coach Chris Ferrier. “We had some balanced scoring and we limited Chief Kitsap’s shooter to a handful of shots.
“Our guards Dom Sprague and Conner Bauers did a good job exploiting our size and skill by dumping the ball inside to Kadon Love, Conner Ferro-May and Lukas Love,” Ferrier said.
Ferro-May led the Loggers with 12 points, while Lukas Love had 10 and Kadon Love 10.
Ferrier said the Loggers missed some up-close shots. “The focus the rest of this week will be continuing to get those down. We can tighten up a lot after this game,” he said.
Crescent plays at Forks at 5:45 p.m. today in a nonleague game.
Crescent 48, Chief Kitsap 11
Cres. 10 15 14 9 — 48
CK 0 6 2 3 — 11
Crescent (48) — Ferro-May 12, L. Love 10, Ka. Love 10, H. Bourm 6, Chartier 3, White 2, Watson 2, Bauers 2, Emery, M. Love, Ky. Love, L. Bourm.
Neah Bay 100, Clallam Bay 29
NEAH BAY — The Red Devils boys basketball team hit the century mark in a 100-29 win over Clallam Bay on Tuesday.
Neah Bay had six players in double figures and shot 62.5 percent (35-for-56) for the game, scoring 33 points in the first quarter.
Julian Carrick led the team with 20 points, while Jaden Halttunen had 15, Tyler Swan, Buddy Aguirre and LeAnthony Jimmicum all scored 12 and Makyah Chambers scored 10. Swan shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor.
Dylan Simmons led Clallam Bay with 11 points while William Hull scored 10.
Neah Bay (8-5) next plays at home against Chief Kitsap at 5:45 p.m. Friday.
Neah Bay 100, Clallam Bay 29
CB 3 6 7 13 — 29
NB 33 22 26 19 — 100
Neah Bay (100) — Carrick 20, Halttunen 15, Aguirre 12, Jimmicum 12, Swan 12, Chambers 10, Lee-Moore 7, Butterfield 6, Ellis 4, Woodruff 2.
Clallam Bay (29) — Simmons 11, W. Hull 10, Cummins 3, Hess 3, Cruz 2.
