QUILCENE — Quilcene fell to Sea-Tac League foe Christian Faith 54-52 in girls basketball action.
The experienced Eagles, who feature a starting lineup of three seniors and two juniors, gave the young Rangers all they could handle Friday night.
Quilcene started off slow, allowing 17 points in the first quarter while only countering with 10 of their own points.
“We struggled on defense tonight a bit,” Quilcene coach Briana Weller said.
“Our man-to-man coverage broke down and we had to transition to a 2-3 zone. At times, even our 2-3 zone wasn’t effective in covering the offensive transition from block to baseline and back.
“Turnovers also hurt us.”
The Rangers responded by outscoring Christian Faith 13-7 in the second quarter to set up an evenly played second half.
Megan Weller led Quilcene with a solid all-around effort that included 19 points, five steals and three assists.
Sammy Rae pulled down 14 rebounds and scored 12 points, and Bailey Kieffer added nine points.
Allison Jones contributed eight points, five assists and a steal. Freshman Taylor Burnston scored a basket, had two rebounds and three assists, and fellow freshman Katie Bailey scored two points and grabbed three rebounds.
Christian Faith’s 6-foot center Katrice Pond gave the Rangers fits all game long. She wound up scoring 22 points.
“We had trouble shutting her down,” Briana Weller said.
Quilcene is now 5-6 on the season (2-6 in league play).
Christian Faith 54, Quilcene 52
Christian Faith 17 7 19 11— 54
Quilcene 10 13 17 11— 12
Individual scoring
Quilcene (2-6, 5-6)
Weller 19, Rae 12, Kieffer 9, Jones 8, Burnston 2, Bailey 2.
Wrestling
Port Townsend seventh at Rainier
RAINIER — The Redskins stepped up in what coach Steve Grimm called their “toughest 1A tournament of the year.”
“This was a ‘gut check’ for us to see how good we actually are,” Grimm said, “and the team responded by wrestling the best they have all year.”
Despite having only nine wrestlers rather than a full 14, Port Townsend placed seventh in the 16-team meet, beating out teams such as Eatonville, Cascade Christian, Bellevue Christian and South Whidbey.
Only Vashon Island and other ranked teams in the state, such as Chelan, Kiona Benton and Castle Rock beat out the Redskins.
“I was telling my coaches on the way down, ‘I think this is the best team I have ever taken to a tournament,’” Grimm said.
“We don’t have a full lineup, but everyone of them has the potential to win it.”
Kade Wilford won the 138-pound weight classes to claim Port Townsend’s only gold medal.
Wilford opened the 16-wrestler bracket by beating Eatonville’s Manual York, ranked eighth in the state, in overtime. In the finals, Wilford pinned JD Day of Kalama High School.
With four wins on Saturday, Wilford’s season record improved to 4-2.
Also for the Redskins, Senior Alex Morris of Chimacum placed third at 145 pounds. Morris was 4-1 on the day, earning all of his wins by pin.
Jeff Seton, a junior, took third as well in the 170-pound class in his first meet of the season.
“His only loss of the day came from Zach Chamberlin of Tenino,” Grimm said.
“I’ve never really seen a kid walk into the toughest tournament of the year without even a match under his belt in two years and place third
“But that’s Jeff. He is determined to become a champion.”
At 113 pounds, junior Shae Shoop placed fifth by going 2-2 on the day, losing only to returning state placers Jojo Saringan from Castle Rock and Angel Hernadez of Chelan.
Girls at Kelso
Port Townsend assistant coach Matt Krysinski drove a third van to Kelso for a large girls tournament that featured more than 300 girls on 12 different mats.
Chloe Rogers, at 137 pounds, pinned three girls and only lost one en route to a second-place finish.
Rogers is now 5-2 on the season after joining the team late.
“She joined after our first home match of the season, and everything is starting to click for her,” Grimm said.
“She is so strong and has a big heart.”
In the 118-pound class, Charity Jesionowski went 1-2 in a tough bracket. She has an 11-5 record on the season.
Port Townsend travels to Port Angeles for a dual match against the Roughriders and Sequim today.
The kicks off a busy week in which the Redskins will wrestle at North Kitsap on Thursday and in the Klahowya Klassic tournament on Saturday.