PORT TOWNSEND — The East Jefferson boys basketball team won got back to .500 in league play and helped solidify a playoff spot with an 80-75 win over Bellevue Christian.
The Rivals improved to 7-7 in the Nisqually League in fourth place (8-9 overall). They currently hold the No. 5 seed in the District 3 tournament with two league games left to play. Bellevue Christian came in to Friday’s game with a 10-3 record in league play, so it was a huge win for the Rivals.
Stuart Dow had a huge game with 20 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots. Cash Holmes had another big game from outside, hitting five 3-pointers and scoring 17 points.
Aiden Stepanski scored 16 points and Keidan Guzman had 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Brody Moore led the team with eight assists while pulling down six boards. Traycen Brown had nine points.
The Rivals have a good shot at finishing at .500 in league and maintaining their fifth-seed position as they play Vashon on Tuesday. Vashon is just 2-16 on the season. That game is at 5:30 p.m. in Chimacum. The Rivals also still have to play Annie Wright, which is 17-2, on the road. Klahowya is lurking right behind East Jefferson at 6-8 but has tough games against Life Christian and Bellevue Christian.
East Jefferson 80, Bellevue Chr. 75
BC 20 19 14 22 — 75
EJ 22 16 23 19 — 80
East Jefferson (80) — Dow 20, Holmes 17, Stepanski 16, Guzman 13, Brown 9, Moore 5.
Forks 72, Rainier 66 OT
MONTESANO — The Forks boys basketball team got a monster game from Aidan Salazar and a clutch 3-pointer from Landin Davis to beat Rainier 72-66 in the opening round of the District 4 2B tournament.
Salazar scored 35 points, hitting six 3-pointers and shooting 13-for-15 on his free throws.
“I knew he was scoring a lot, but I didn’t know he was scoring that much until after the game,” said coach Keith Weekes.
While Salazar was filling up the rim, Davis had the biggest shot of all. It was a back-and-forth game with Forks getting off to a 9-0 start and both teams going on big runs and taking the lead. Rainier had a 3-point lead at the end of the fourth quarter when Davis hit a game-tying shot with four seconds left to tie it at 61-61. Rainier got a final shot at the buzzer, but it didn’t go in, sending the game in overtime.
In the extra five-minute period, the Spartans outsored Rainier 11-5.
“We faced Rainier earlier in the year [a 51-37 Forks loss]. Luckily, we have changed quite a bit since we last played them,” Weekes said.
“The boys never backed down. Everyone on the team was a reason we won,” Weekes said.
Davis ended up with 13 points, while Brody Lausche had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Spartans (12-9) are now in double elimination. Their next game is against the No. 1 2B team in the state, Napavine (19-0), at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at W.F. West High School in Chehalis. But, win or lose, Forks moves on to play again on Feb. 14.
Forks 72, Rainier 66 OT
Rainier 17 13 10 21 5 — 66
Forks 17 9 21 14 11 — 72
Forks (72) — Salazar 35, Davis 13, Lausche 10, Olson 5, Rowley 4, Micheau 3, Lohrengel 2.
Crescent 61, Chief Kitsap 28
JOYCE — The Crescent boys basketball team finished the regular season with a 61-28 victory over Chief Kitsap, improving the Loggers’ record to a sterling 17-3.
“It’s been a great regular season. What a great group of young men,” said coach Chris Ferrier. “They continue to respond to the challenge of continued improvement and the pressure that comes with winning.”
“We finished second in league for the fourth season in a row,” Ferrier said. “Pretty impressive and that’s a testament to the young men. They just keep working hard, keep grinding, and we get to continue our season.”
Lukas Love had 10 points and nine rebounds, while Henry Bourm led the team with 14. Levi Bourm and Mikah Love each scored 10 and Dom Sprague had nine.
Crescent begins postseason play Saturday.
Crescent 61, Chief Kitsap 28
Crescent 11 20 20 10 — 61
Chief Kitsap 2 4 11 11 — 28
Crescent (61) — L. Bourm 10, M. Love 10, Sprague 9, L. Love 10, H. Bourm 14, Grooms 2, Watson 2, Forsell 4.
Thursday game
Sequim 78, Olympic 52
SEQUIM — The Sequim boys basketball team hit 11 3-pointers in beating Olympic 78-52.
Keenan Green led the way for the Wolves with 21 points. He hit four 3-pointers. Mason Rapelje hit a pair from downtown and scored 15 points, while Garrett Little made three 3-pointers for nine points. Charlie Grider and Jericho Julmist each scored eight.
Sequim (5-8, 10-9) wraps up its regular season with a Rainshadow Rivalry game at Port Angeles (9-3, 13-6) at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. The Wolves are locked in as the No. 4 2A team in the Olympic League but a win might help their seeding for the bidistrict tournament, which takes Ratings Percentage Index into account. The Wolves are ranked No. 34 in RPI.
Sequim 78, Olympic 52
Oly. 16 10 8 18 — 52
Seq. 11 24 26 17 — 78
Sequim (78) — Green 21, Rapelje 15, Little 9, Grider 8, Julmist 8, Sheppard 6, Gray 4, Melnick 4, Wiker 3.
Sequim-PA girls
The Sequim-Port Angeles girls basketball game is at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Port Angeles after the completion of the boys game. The Sequim girls (10-3, 12-4) still have a chance to share the Olympic League title with Port Angeles (11-1, 13-6) but they would need to beat Port Angeles on Tuesday and the Roughriders to lose Thursday to Bremerton for that to happen. Sequim will finish no worse than second in the league no matter what.
