PORT ANGELES — After wearing Seattle Seahawks jerseys as pregame warmup attire, it was fitting that Sequim’s defense carried much of the weight in a 48-37 Rainshadow Rumble boys basketball victory over rival Port Angeles.
The Wolves changed up their defensive look from their usual man-to-man to a 2-3 zone, and pounced on the Roughriders early and often in Friday’s victory.
Sequim rolled to a 14-0 start, thanks to eight straight points from Alex Barry, and nearly pitched a first-quarter shutout until Hunter Hathaway battled for an inside bucket at the first-quarter buzzer.
“We wanted to put a lot of pressure on them because we know we are long and we could try to trap them on the corner and in the wing and we could get some steals from that,” Barry said.
The strategy worked well at the outset, but could have gone even better for Sequim.
“We wanted to try to turn them over and we did, but they would turn us over immediately after,” Wolves coach Greg Glasser said.
“We would try and trap in a few different locations and use our length to get some steals on the backside, but it seemed like right after we turned them over they’d turn us over.”
The Riders couldn’t buy a bucket to start the game, missing their first 11 shots before Hathaway’s score.
“If we would have shown up for the first quarter we would have given them a game,” Port Angeles coach Kasey Ulin said.
“It’s one of those things that have happened to us a couple times, we just seem to put too much pressure on ourselves.
“They haven’t played much zone this year so I give Coach Glasser credit for going to the zone. We practice our zone offense everyday, but their length, their guards are athletic, they fly around, they are long.”
“You don’t start like that. “And I’m not saying we win the game, but it’s a completely different game.”
Indeed, after spotting Sequim a 25-6 lead with 2:54 to go in the first half, Port Angeles worked to get back in striking distance with an 8-2 run to close the quarter and trail 27-14 at half.
“I was not personally content because I felt we had the opportunity to really take it to them, but because we kept turning the ball over on our way to score, we didn’t,” Glasser said of the early action.
Barry added eight more points in the second quarter for the Wolves, and had 18 on the night to lead all scorers.
He added nine rebounds and seven steals
The Riders wouldn’t go quietly, chipping away and pulling within nine, 34-25, with 2:01 left in the third quarter.
“We told them at half, the first half won’t define you but the second half will,” Ulin said.
“You could see in the second half we made some adjustments and got after it defensively.”
The comeback attempt could have been boosted by better free-throw shooting from Port Angeles.
Lambros Rogers was all over the court on offense and defense for the Riders, with eight points and a host of rebounds, but he couldn’t buy a made free throw.
Rogers went 0 of 8 from the line, and Port Angeles was 4 of 15 as a team from the charity stripe.
Sequim didn’t suffer any catastrophic errors, but committed 22 turnovers on the night.
“We made some mistakes here and there that kept them in it, some turnovers, a few lapses on defense,” Barry said.
“They were pushing us towards the end. They were trying hard and pressuring us well.”
Glasser saw those defensive lapses as well.
“In the second half we had some guys that kept coming out a little on the top of the zone and it leaves that high post open.
“And Hunter [Hathaway] is so good there, passing or shooting.”
Hathaway scored 10 points to lead the Riders and severely dented a “Riders Spirit” garbage can in front of the student section while trying to save the basketball and possession.
Port Angeles forced nine turnovers in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t convert those extra possessions into scores in the first part of the period.
Barry essentially sealed the game by intercepting a pass and running out for a two-handed slam dunk.
“It was pretty easy, a breakaway,” Barry said of the jam.
“I checked back behind to see if anyone was coming on, and then to make sure nobody was underneath me and went up.”
The senior was serenaded by chants of “MVP” from the Sequim student section from the opening tip.
“That’s a nice confidence booster for me,” Barry said of the cheers.
“It’s nice to have that support.”
Jackson Oliver had nine points and Vance Willis added seven for the Wolves.
The victory was the sixth straight for Sequim (8-3, 13-6), who sit a game back of Olympic for second in the Olympic League.
The Wolves host league-leading North Kitsap (9-1, 14-4) for senior night Tuesday.
The top two teams host opening round district games.
Port Angeles (2-8, 5-13) has to win its last two games to make districts.
The Riders visit Bremerton (4-6, 7-9) on Tuesday.
Sequim 48, Port Angeles 37
Sequim 14 13 12 9— 48
Port Angeles 2 12 11 12— 37
Individual scoring
Sequim (48)
Barry 18, Oliver 9, Willis 7, McConnaughey 4, Glasser 4, Bates 3, Rutherford 3, Espinoza.
Port Angeles (37)
Hathaway 10, Rogers 8, McGoff 6, Peet 6, L. Angevine 3, Frith 2, Heilman 2, Andrus, Boesenberg, N. Angevine.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.
