PORT ANGELES — Plain and simple, the Neah Bay’s boys basketball team wanted it more.
“It” being the basketball, the victory over a talented Tulalip Heritage squad and a guaranteed spot at regionals that came with the win.
The Red Devils (16-2) earned everything as they steadily pushed to a 76-50 triumph over the Hawks (16-6) at Port Angeles High School on Tuesday.
Neah Bay plays Shorewood Christian (11-9) today at Mount Vernon Christian at 6:30 p.m. with a berth in Saturday’s Tri-District championship at stake.
The Red Devils didn’t shoot tremendously well as a team, hitting only 28 of 70 shots. But they had 21 more shot opportunities than Tulalip Heritage, thanks to a dedicated effort on the offensive and defensive glass.
Many of Neah Bay’s buckets came on second-or third-shot attempts, frustrating the Hawks, and even causing a Tulalip assistant to stand and loudly implore his team for more effective rebounding technique during one stretch in the third quarter.
“We’ve got to go to work,” Red Devils senior Abraham Venske said.
“They were boxing out well but we found a way to get to the ball.
“We just knew we had to box out, board, get the rebounds and get going.”
Much of that workmanlike mentality stemmed from Neah Bay’s mid-January loss to No. 1 Lummi, a team that has beaten the Hawks three times this year.
“That has a lot to do with that early loss to Lummi,” Red Devils coach Stan Claplanhoo said of his team’s effort on the boards.
“It brought a lot of things to the kids’ attention and ours as coaches.
“The biggest thing was defense, the lack of effort on defense, and being in the right position and boxing out for rebounds.
“We’ve been working on a lot of that in practice, and adding a couple of different plays on the offensive end so we are in position on the offensive end to rebound and have the post players in the right position off the offense.”
Venske led Neah Bay with 24 points, many of them coming down low, as the 6-foot-3 former point guard continues his transition to playing in the post.
The Red Devils roster isn’t filled with height — Venske is the team’s tallest player — but there are plenty of capable ball handlers on the team, thus Venkse’s switch to the inside.
A back-and-forth affair early on, the Red Devils used 3-pointers from Jongi Claplanhoo and Rweha Munyagi Jr. to close the first quarter up 18-12.
Venske and Ryan Moss got going in the second quarter, with Venske hitting for seven and Moss knocking down two 3s to give Neah Bay a 35-28 halftime lead.
Moss finished with 13 points.
More 3s from Kenrick Doherty Jr. and Jongi Claplanhoo to open the third quarter pushed the Red Devils to a 41-28 lead with 6:15 to go in the period.
Doherty shrugged off a slow start to hit for 11 points. Claplanhoo added 12.
The Red Devils shot 12 of 28 from the 3-point line as a team, taking advantage of Tulalip’s tendency to swarm the basketball down low and leave shooters in space.
“Our focus with this game plan was to go to the post,” Claplanhoo said.
“If we start in the post, that will create things for us. We can find where the double [team] is coming, and somebody is going to be open.
“Everybody is getting involved with the type of offense we are running right now. There’s a lot of movement, a lot of back cuts and there’s just a lot we can do with this one. It’s what we want to perfect before we hopefully get to the state tournament.”
Venske canned a bucket down low and Doherty sank two 3s late in the third quarter to spark an 8-0 Neah Bay run in the final 1:34 of the third quarter that put the Red Devils up 56-40 entering the final frame.
Tulalip Heritage tried to use the 3 to get back in the game, but went cold, hitting just 1 of 10 from beyond the arc in the final quarter, and never threatening a comeback.
“They gave Lummi a game and we knew they were going to be a challenge,” Venske said.
“And we lived up to it.”
Neah Bay 76, Tulalip Heritage 50
Tulalip Heritage 12 16 12 10— 50
Neah Bay 18 17 21 20— 76
Individual scoring
Tulalip Heritage (50)
Louie 16, Miles Jr. 11, Miranda 11, McLean 7, Enick 5.
Neah Bay (76)
Venske 24, Moss 13, Claplanhoo 12, Doherty Jr. 11, Munyagi 5, McGimpsey 5, Reamer 3, Conwell 3.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.
