PORT TOWNSEND – Neah Bay’s Vonte Aguirre grabbed an offensive rebound an scored as the final buzzer sounded Tuesday against Squalicum at the Crush in the Slush.
The Red Devils lost by four points, 37-33, so Aguirre’s putback wasn’t a game-winner, but the effort alone marked a complete turnaround less than 20 hours after Neah Bay’s 61-46 loss to Bellingham that left coach Tony McCaulley “disgusted.”
Tuesday’s game earned the Red Devils a “pretty dang well.”
“So much better today. We hustled. You know, that was a good team and I thought we played pretty dang well,” McCaulley said Tuesday.
“I thought we got a couple raw calls down the stretch, but I was really pleased with the way the team played.
“Probably the best basketball game we’ve played all year. I really believe that. We didn’t shoot the ball super-well, but defensively it was definitely the best game we’ve played this year.
“The effort was good today. If we would have had that effort yesterday, we would have won.
“I was super-happy with the effort today.”
That defense held the Storm to one point in the first quarter and four points in the third.
The Class 1B Red Devils kept their grip on the lead over 2A Squalicum until Chalae Wolters’ follow bucket gave the Storm a 30-29 lead with 2 minutes, 7 seconds left in the game. Wolters led all scorers with 20 points.
A few plays earlier, Neah Bay starting guard Gina McCaulley fouled out, and a couple minutes later, Starlena Halttunen joined her.
But the Red Devils still hung around until the very end.
No energy in defeat
Conversely, in Monday’s loss to the Bellingham Red Raiders, Neah Bay bailed quickly on rebounds and loose balls in the loss to Bellingham, another 2A school.
The Red Devils opened the game with an aggressive first quarter of pressing and running.
The next three quarters, though? Yikes.
Bellingham dominated the second quarter and never really looked back in its 61-46 victory at Port Townsend High School.
“Stopped hustling,” Neah Bay coach Tony McCaulley said.
“Bottom line is [Bellingham] wanted the loose balls and . . . I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on with us. We play for a little bit and then we just don’t, so I haven’t figured it out.
“I’m a little disgusted with it, to tell you the truth.
“It’s just our energy. If we don’t play with energy, we’re not good; if we play with energy, we’re fairly good.”
The Red Devils too often didn’t box out and weren’t chasing down loose balls.
After using an 11-2 run in the first quarter to lead 16-9 at the break, Neah Bay was held scoreless for the entire second quarter as the Red Raiders reeled off 22 straight points to build a 31-16 lead early in the third quarter.
Later in the period, sophomore guard Jessica Greene hit three 3-pointers from the right elbow in less than 90 seconds to get the Red Devils back in the game.
“She got a hot streak and kind of pulled us back into it for a little bit for a little bit, but then we went away from it,” McCaulley said.
“We did a little better in the third quarter, picked it up a little bit.”
Greene’s third trey made it 37-28, and buckets by Halttunen and Tristin Johnson and two free throws by Holly Greene brought Neah Bay within seven points, 41-34, in the opening minutes of minute of the fourth quarter.
But the Red Raiders scored the next eight points to put the game away.
Jessica Greene finished with nine points for the Red Devils, while Johnson scored a team-high 15.
Holly Greene led Neah Bay with seven rebounds and five assists.
The Red Devils shot 7 of 32 from 3-point range, and 11 of 34 from inside the arc.
Paige Jacobsen led Bellingham with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Suzie Bennett pulled down nine rebounds and Benson and Autumn Jacobson had seven apiece for Bellingham, which outrebounded Neah Bay 60-36.
Squalicum 37, Neah Bay 33
Squalicum 1 14 4 18— 37
Neah Bay 6 7 10 10— 33
Individual scoring
Squalicum (37)
Wolters 20, Henry 5, Andert 4, Williams 2, Madera 2, Linville 2.
Neah Bay (33)
Johnson 10, H. Greene 7, McCaulley 6, Aguirre 5, J. Greene 4, Gagnon 1, Haltunnen.
Bellingham 61, Neah Bay 46
Bellingham 9 18 14 20— 61
Neah Bay 16 0 16 14— 46
Individual scoring
Bellingham (61)
P. Jacobsen 17, A. Jacobsen 10, Benson 11, Rossman 7, Estrada 6, Bennett 5, Richard 3, Cook 2, Autumn-Polin.
Neah Bay (46)
Johnson 15, J. Greene 9, McCaulley 8, Haltunnen 6, Svec 2, Aguirre 1, Olson, Lovik.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
