PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend avenged last week’s loss to cross-county rival Chimacum with a 53-42 victory Friday in the Crush in the Slush tournament at Port Townsend High School.
The Redskins won the rematch thanks in large part to a couple of big runs in the middle quarters.
“It’s just a grind whenever Port Townsend and Chimacum play,” Redskins coach Tom Webster said following the game. “Especially in the first half [on Friday]. “In the second half, we played better.”
The Cowboys opened up a 17-10 lead early in the second quarter after Derek Ajax scored on a put back, and appeared to be in control of the game.
But Port Townsend guard Daniel Charlton scored six straight points to cut the lead to 17-16, and then a pair of free throws by Paul Spaltenstein gave the Redskins eight straight points and put them in the lead.
“Daniel [Charlton] was good off the bench,” Webster said of the junior guard. Charlton finished with 10 points.
The Redskins also employed a defensive press that the Cowboys struggled to break.
“We were just trying to create turnovers,” Webster said.
A free throw by Orion Weller tied the score at 18 and ended Chimacum’s nearly five-minute scoring drought.
While that run got the Redskins back in the game, it was a third-quarter scoring streak that essentially won it.
The score was tied at 24 at halftime and remained tight for the first three minutes of the third period before Port Townsend finished the period on a 15-3 run punctuated by Cody Russell’s basket-and-foul.
Russell again led the Redskins with 16 points. Unlike the previous meeting between the Quimper Peninsula rivals, in which he score 19 points, he had plenty of scoring help on Friday. Along with Charlton’s 10, Spaltenstein scored 10 and point guard Will O’Brien had eight.
In all, the Redskins outscored the Cowboys 21-9 in the third period to take a 45-33 lead into the final quarter.
Port Townsend spent much of the fourth quarter draining the clock. The Redskins further limited Chimacum’s scoring opportunities by grabbing offensive rebounds that extended their possessions.
Chimacum coach Jim Eldridge said his team’s lack of rebounding was a major factors in the game.
In the Cowboy’s 46-42 win over Port Townsend last week, Riley Downs grabbed 10 rebounds. But Downs missed Friday’s game because of a family vacation.
“I would have loved to have those 10 boards,” Eldridge said.
Neither team was at full strength.
Seth Ham and Tracyn Anderson also missed the game for the Cowboys, and Ajax was limited due to the flu. (“He was throwing up all day,” Eldridge said.)
Port Townsend was without post player Skyler Coppenrath.
“But we just didn’t play well,” Eldridge said after discussing Chimacum’s absent players.
“Too many turnovers and not enough rebounds.”
Rafael Pagasian scored 12 points for the Cowboys, Weller had 11 and Jordan Miller finished with 10.
Port Townsend 53, Chimacum 42
Chimacum 12 12 9 9— 42
Home 10 14 21 8— 53
Individual scoring
Chimacum (42)
Miller 10, Pagasian 12, Ajax 6, Weller 11, Schreier 3.
Port Townsend (53)
O’Brien 8, Russell 16, LeMaster 4, Spaltenstein 10, Charlton 10, Dwyer 5.