PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend girls basketball season came to a close with a 61-34 loss to Seattle Christian in a Class 1A West Central District Tournament play-in game Wednesday night.
“SC is a really good basketball team that has three players who will play in college at least according to their coach,” Redhawks assistant coach Scott Wilson said.
Wilson coached the game with Port Townsend head coach Cameron Botkin away to attend her daughter’s Army boot camp graduation.
“They got up on us in the first quarter by picking us apart with a press that we had a really hard time dealing with,” Wilson said.
“We made some adjustments, got some really strong efforts, particularly Izzzy Hammett, who was our leading scorer and controlled rebounds on both ends of the floor.”
Hammett had 15 points to lead the Redhawks and sophomore Gina Brown added seven.
“[Seattle Christian] had clearly done some scouting, they packed the key in very tightly and keyed in on Gina,” Wilson said.
“They were kind of our opposite, they have three girls who shoot the lights out from beyond the arc, but they don’t have a lot of size inside.”
Port Townsend finished its season 6-12, a success in itself considering the team’s difficult start that saw a late coaching change and some players deciding to sit out.
“We all think so,” Wilson said. “This was a team that when we started the season we thought we may only be playing JV games. A lot of freshman and sophomores, a couple of juniors and one senior really found themselves and became a fine young team during the season.
“Our last game with Chimacum, we played them to almost a dead tie after three quarters and we beat Klahowya twice.”
Wilson was happy to be a part of it all.
“It was awesome. Coach Botkin I think did a terrific job given there were surprises in the first two weeks with who decided not to play. But all the young players stepping up and saying lets make the most of it. They grew by leaps and bounds, I don’t know if there’s a stat to show improvement, but these Redhawks showed it.
“Tremendous growth. We lose one senior, Rosalyn [Salmon], who was everybody’s favorite, but everybody comes back next year, hopefully with a few additions, so the prospects are very bright.”
Seattle Christian 61, Port Townsend 34
SC 21 8 13 19—61
PT 6 8 7 13— 34
Port Townsend (34) — Hammett 15, Brown 7, Dow 5, Salmon 4, Johnston 2, Hoffman 1, Berry, Asbell, Ballard, Robinsn, Garfias.
Boys Basketball Cascade Christian 66, Port Townsend 53
PUYALLUP — A short-handed Redhawks squad fell to the Cougars in a 1A West Central District Tournament play-in game Wednesday.
“We got within 56-50 with 3 minutes to play and the ball,” Port Townsend coach Tom Webster said.
“We couldn’t score and they went to the free-throw line.
“We couldn’t really get the two or three defensive stops in a row we needed to make a run.”
Webster said his team was limited to eight players, with some players still stuck at home due to snowfall.
Seniors Cole Crawford and Jayden Watkins led the Redhawks with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Exchange student Kuba Krol added 10 and seniors Nico Winegar and Kavi Baabahar had eight and five points.
Port Townsend finished the season 9-9.
Webster said he would discuss the season and the contributions of his senior class at a later date.
Cascade Christian 66, Port Townsend 53
PT 10 13 8 22— 53
CC 15 10 18 23— 66
Port Townsend (53) — Crawford 16, Watkins 14, Krol 10, Winegar 8, Baabahar 5.
Cascade Christian (66) — Larson 28, Johnson 20, Vandouris 11, Zetterberg 6, Greiner 1.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
