PORT ANGELES — Sequim had a season-best offensive output in its 91-55 shellacking of rival Port Angeles on Thursday night.
Olympic then kept pace Friday by beating Bremerton 67-57 to remain tied with the Wolves at the top of the Olympic League standings.
Thursday night’s game started off as a classic rivalry game as the Roughriders and the Wolves spent most of the opening quarter swapping leads.
Hayden Gunderson gave Port Angeles a 16-14 lead on a 3-pointer with 1:15 left in the first
Sequim responded by scoring the final nine points of the period.
Starting point guard Anthony Pinza gave the Wolves the lead with a 3-pointer, and Jayson Brocklesby added to it with a steal that he finished with a dunk and a 3-ball of his own.
The Riders managed to stay within striking distance for the first three minutes of the second quarter, but Brocklesby and the Wolves again went on a tear.
Brocklesby hit a 3-pointer, then finished another steal with another dunk and scored on a layup to help turn a 30-24 lead into a 39-24 advantage.
Sequim finished the quarter on a 20-2 run, and led 50-26 at halftime.
“We started turning the ball over and couldn’t get in our offense, and [Sequim] capitalized,” Port Angeles coach Brent Stephens said.
“Good teams tend to do that.”
Wolves coach Greg Glasser said the run was more than just an offensive outburst.
“That was one of our best quarters of the season,” Wolves coach Greg Glasser said after the game.
“It seems like when our defense gets going, our offense gets going, too. Our defense really fuels our offense.”
Brocklesby scored 19 of his 23 points in the first half. He rested on the bench for most of the second half.
“He creates a lot for himself, and not in a selfish way,” Glasser said of the senior wing who has scored at least 20 points in 10 games this season, including 35 in the first meeting with Port Angeles.
“We don’t run a lot for him. He gets a lot of points off offensive rebounds and steals.”
The Wolves, however, once again showed that their talent extends beyond Brocklesby and all-around specialist Gabe Carter, who finished with seven points.
Alex Barry, the lone sophomore on the varsity squad, scored a season-high 19 points, and Andrew Shimer added 10 points.
Sequim also had important contributions from Pinza, Rory Kallappa and Erik Christensen.
“Erik was a great presence inside,” Glasser said. “His presence in the second half was huge.”
For Port Angeles, Gunderson had another nice scoring game against the Wolves with a game-high 27 points.
The junior point guard scored 25 points when the two teams played in December.
“Gunderson lit us up both times, and he had to work hard for his shots,” Glasser said.
Sophomore Hunter Hathaway added nine points for the Riders and Matt Williams came off the bench to score three points.
Sequim (13-1, 15-3) next has a key matchup with third-place Bremerton (11-3, 13-5) on the road Tuesday.
The Wolves had to survive a big fourth-quarter rally by the Knights in a 61-58 home victory last month.
Port Angles, meanwhile, hosts Port Townsend (3-11, 6-12) on Tuesday. The Riders beat the Redskins 56-53 earlier in the season.
“We got them last time,” Stephens said.
“But Port Townsend is a team we can’t take lightly. We have to be focused.”
After that game, the Riders (2-12, 3-15) will try to aid their rival’s quest for an outright Olympic League championship by upsetting Olympic (13-1, 15-3) on Friday.
“We’ll try to help out Sequim next week by playing the spoiler [role],” Stephens said.
The Wolves finish the regular season at Port Townsend on Friday.
If Sequim and Olympic are still tied for first place after next week’s games, they would share the Olympic League title, but would play a tiebreaker game to determine which team has a bye in the opening round of the West Central District playoffs.
According to the Kitsap Sun, such a tiebreaker game has been tentatively scheduled for Monday, Feb. 11 at North Kitsap High School in Poulsbo.
Sequim 91, Port Angeles 55
Sequim 23 27 25 16— 91
Port Angeles 16 10 14 15— 55
Individual scoring
Sequim (91)
Pinza 8, Lee 4, Barry 19, Kallappa 7, Posadas 3, Brocklesby 23, Guan 2, Christensen 6, Carter 7, Shimer 10.
Port Angeles (55)
Konopaski 2, Gunderson 27, Williams 3, Treider 4, Hathaway 9, Payton 4, Elliott 2, Schumacher 4.