A LITTLE MORE than one month into prep basketball season, one thing is certain:
The Neah Bay girls basketball team is as good as advertised.
The Red Devils are perfect at 7-0 — not counting the Dec. 20 and Friday night alumni games — and have yet to be challenged.
The Class 1B contenders have outscored opponents by a margin of 47.0 points per game, with the narrowest win coming in a 70-42 triumph over Tulalip Heritage in its own gym.
It’s not as if they have been taking on a bunch of 1B pushovers either.
Neah Bay has had blowout wins over 1A Forks (62-25), 2B Shoreline Christian (74-27) and 2B Rainier Christian (82-13) during their early season run.
And those two matchups against their older, wiser Red Devil counterparts in the alumni games? A pair of 64-45 and 70-37 blowout victories.
There was talk around Cape Flattery of the girls competing for a 1B title this season. That doesn’t appear to be idle chatter.
Here’s a few more observations as we near the season’s midpoint:
■ Some 1A surprises — Who knew a Dec. 7 nonleague matchup between the Forks and Chimacum boys (a 45-43 Cowboy win) was a clash of 1A powers?
After struggling the past few years, both teams are contenders in their respective leagues.
The Chimacum Cowboys (3-1 in league, 8-2 overall) are just one game back in the 1A Nisqually, as are the Forks Spartans (5-1, 8-3) in the SWL-Evergreen.
While the Cowboys are getting it done with a fast-paced perimeter-oriented attack, the Spartans are relying on their defense to pull out close wins.
Could this end with a rematch at state?
■ Sequim-PA will be big — Once again, the Olympic League schedulers decided to put both Sequim-Port Angeles boys games near the back end of the league slate.
Once again, that will likely make for a pair of high stakes matchups when the two meet in Port Angeles on Jan. 13 and Sequim on Feb. 7.
The two teams are currently tied for second place in the Olympic League.
There’s a decent chance they’ll be battling for one of the top two spots to the 2A sub-district tournament when they close out the regular season in Dungeness Valley on Feb. 7.
■ NOL boys title up for grabs — The Neah Bay boys (6-2) have already beaten both of their NOL counterparts (Clallam Bay and Crescent) in nonleague matchups this winter.
But don’t expect this to be the same sort of walk through the Red Devils have become accustomed to while winning five of the past six NOL crowns.
Crescent (7-4) is big and athletic with double-double machine Joel Williams, Clallam Bay (4-7) has been competitive in nearly every game this winter, and Neah Bay is not quite the same team that took second in 1B last year.
■ PT girls in wrong league — Redskins head coach Randy Maag was one of the more vocal advocates for Port Townsend moving from the 2A Olympic to the 1A Nisqually next year.
A peak at his team’s records against schools from each league provides a little insight into exactly why that is.
While the Redskins are struggling near the bottom of the Olympic League standings at 2-7, they are a perfect 3-0 against 1A Nisqually teams.
Unfortunately for Maag and company, that’s a moot point since 1A Port Townsend isn’t headed for the Nisqually any time soon.
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.
