PORT ANGELES — The Neah Bay boys and girls teams face familiar foes today in the opening round of the Class 1B Tri-District tournament at Port Angeles High School.
In the girls game, the No. 5 Red Devils square off against former teammates in their game against Tulalip Heritage at 7 p.m.
The top-ranked Neah Bay boys, meanwhile, match up with football rival fifth-ranked Lummi at 5:30 p.m.
The Red Devils (14-1) and Blackhawks (18-4) met last month in Bellingham when then-No. 4 Neah Bay earned a 56-53 road win over then-No. 2 Lummi.
In that game, the Red Devils held the Blackhawks to nine fourth-quarter points and made 19 of 24 free throws, while Lummi made only 8 of 24 at the line.
Neah Bay, whose only loss on the season was a six-point setback at Class 2A Sequim in December, features a balanced attack in all facets.
Abraham Venske and Ryan Moss have identical scoring averages of 12.3 points per game, followed by Josiah Greene (8.2 ppg), Jongi Claplanhoo (7.8) and Ezekiel Greene (7.6).
Venske, a tall point guard, tops the team in rebounding with 4.5 per game. Moss is second at 4.3 per game and post Josiah Greene pulls down 4.2 a game.
Moss leads in assists with 3.1 per game, while Venske averages 2.7 and Josiah Greene dishes out 2.2.
Moss (2.7), Venske (2.2), Josiah Greene (2.2) and Ezekiel Greene (2.0) all average more than two steals per game for the defensive-minded Red Devils.
Lummi finished second in the Northwest League to Tulalip Heritage.
Girls Game
Neah Bay (14-1) vs. Tulalip Heritage (18-3)
The Neah Bay and Tulalip girls faced off last year in the postseason, with the Hawks winning 44-36 after holding the Red Devils to 11 first-half points.
In that game, Kaela Tyler scored three points for Neah Bay. This year, Tyler plays for Tulalip and is coming off a 35-point game in which she hit nine 3-pointers in a 66-50 win over Quilcene in the Tri-District play-in game.
Another Hawks player, point guard Katia Brown, is a former resident of Neah Bay.
Brown, a senior, scored 14 points in Tulalip’s win over the Red Devils last year, tying for game-high honors with teammate Adiya Jones, who is a sophomore on this season’s team.
“They have there really good players,” Neah Bay coach Tony McCaulley said.
“It’s going to be a good game. We match up with them pretty well.”
The Red Devils are led by senior point guard and stat sheet-filler Cierra Moss.
Moss, the latest addition to Neah Bay’s 1,000-point club, averages 24.7 points per game, 11.9 rebounds, 4.4 steals and 4.3 assists — all team highs.
Post Faye Chartraw scores 12.8 points per game, and averages 9.3 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.2 assists.
McCaulley said the Red Devils’ edge might come from the players behind Moss and Chartraw.
“I believe we’re a little bit deeper than [Tulalip],” he said.
“We’re young, but we’re pretty deep.”
Both games on radio
Forks 1490 AM will broadcast the game. It also can be heard online at www.forks1490.com.
Oly Archibald and Pete Haubrick will provide the live play-by-play.
Girls Basketball
Port Townsend (10-11) vs. Seattle Academy (12-6)
SEATTLE — The Redskins open the 1A Tri-District tournament on the road after beating Charles Wright 33-30 in Saturday’s play-in game.
Port Townsend coach Randy Maag said Sunday that information about the Seattle Academy has been difficult to round up, but he likes his team’s chances.
“We have a pretty good shot [to win] on Tuesday,” Maag said.
The Redskins have two double-figure scorers. Senior point guard Jewel Johnson leads the team with 11.9 points per game and senior post Jayde Richardson scores 10.3 per game.
Richardson also pulls down an impressive 14.9 rebounds per game and Johnson averages 5.7 assists.
Trish Reeves averages six points per game and 8.7 rebounds and Rilke Rutenbeck scores 5.4 points per game and pulls down 6.4 rebounds.
If the Redskins beat the Cardinals, they will move into the double-elimination round.
Last year, they won the play-in game and their opening-round game, but lost in the second round to conclude their season.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
