QUILCENE — In a do-or-die situation in the Sea-Tac 1B Basketball Tournament, the Quilcene girls took care of business, walloping Pope John Paul II 48-9 to stay alive in the postseason.
The win Monday sets up another loser-out game on Thursday against Tacoma Baptist. That game will be played at 4:30 p.m. at Evergreen Lutheran High School in Tacoma. The loser goes home for the year, while the winner moves on to the Tri-District 1B Tournament as the No. 5 seed out of the Sea-Tac Tournament.
Quilcene held PJP II to just a single point in the first half, taking a 27-1 lead into the halftime break.
“We shot well from the field at 36 percent, converted 24 points off the Eagles turnovers, and worked the ball inside the paint consistently for 34 of our 48 points. For the first time in a long while, the offense had a nice quick tempo of passing and cutting and shifted the defense nicely,” said coach Briana Weller.
“Defensively, the girls did a good job of playing sound and solid. Our help defense in this game was much improved which kept us out of foul trouble,” she said.
The Rangers ended up with 10 steals, three blocks, 27 defensive rebounds and only eight fouls.
“Once again, our best defensive individual performance goes to Brittney Beukes, who held the Eagles’ quick point guard in check and limited her to only six points. That kid is so fast and she is really learning to move her feet, chest up, and stay in front. She gives pretty much anybody she guards some serious fits,” said Weller.
Quilcene’s Gina Brown had her fifth double-double of the season, scoring 18 points with 12 rebounds. Abby Weller had 13 points and five rebounds, while Marissa Kieffer had a near double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Quilcene has beaten Tacoma Baptist twice this season — 46-28 and 39-24. But, coach Weller made it clear that the Rangers can’t take Thursday’s game for granted.
“The Rangers now need to buckle down and tidy up their game. The past several games have produced too many self-inflicted turnovers. It hasn’t been the opposing team’s pressure causing these woes either … we tend to have moments where we just implode,” Weller said.
If Quilcene (7-5, 11-10) wins, the Rangers start Tri-District play Saturday against the No. 2 seed from 1B District 2.
In the boys’ tournament, the Rangers’ season came to an end with a 48-16 loss to Pope John Paul II. The boys’ team won one game in the Sea-Tac 1B tournament, beating Rainier Christian 47-43 Thursday.
Quilcene 48, Pope John Paul II 9
Quilcene 17 10 12 9 — 48
PJP II 1 0 5 3 — 9
Quilcene (48) — G. Brown 18, Weller 13, Kiefer 9, S. Brown 4, Beukes 4.
Neah Bay boys to play in Port Angeles
PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles High School will host a Neah Bay boys’ 1B Tri-District basketball playoff game Tuesday.
The game will be played at 7 p.m. against a team to be determined.
Port Angeles High School is also hosting the Neah Bay girls’ 1B Tri-District playoff game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and a Clallam Bay girls’ Tri-District game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
