SEQUIM — The North Kitsap boys basketball team has been beating up on the rest of the Olympic League for a long time. Now, it’s Sequim’s turn to be the big dog in the league.
The Wolves continued to put their stamp on the 2024-25 season, pushing their record to 10-0 after crushing a dangerous Vikings team 74-46. Sequim got up 40-15 midway through the second quarter and the game was never remotely close after that.
And again, for the 10th straight game, the Wolves did not allow their opponent to score 50 points.
Jericho Julmist led the team with 27 points.
“Julmist played great in the first half. Both on offense and defense,” said coach Craig Brooks.
Charlie Grider had 10, Mason Rapelje nine and Hunter Tennell eight as the Wolves again had balance with eight players scoring at least four points.
Sequim (6-0, 10-0) will next get its biggest test of the season Tuesday, on the road against a very good Bremerton team (5-1 6-3) at 7 p.m. in a battle for first place in the Olympic League.
Sequim 74, North Kitsap 46
NK 15 3 11 17 — 46
Seq. 27 11 17 14 — 74
Sequim (74) — Julmist 27, Grider 10, Rapelje 9, Hunter 8, Melnick 6, Sheppard 6, Schmadeke 4, Gray 4.
Bremerton 66, Port Angeles 52
PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles boys basketball team got off to a disastrous start against a powerful Bremerton team Friday night, recovered well enough to make a game of it, but could never get the score back within single digits in a 66-52 loss.
Bremerton, which has blown out numerous opponents this year, including a shocking 91-22 win over North Kitsap, got off to a 23-0 start against the Riders in the first 7½ minutes.
“We were really timid and playing on our heels. It was a perfect storm of lack of execution and timidness,” said coach Kasey Ulin. The team also shot 0-for-6 from the free-throw line to begin the game, which did not help.
Blake Sohlberg hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in the quarter for the Riders’ first points of the game. He hit another 3-pointer at the first quarter buzzer.
Sohlberg ended up scoring 11 straight points, hitting a third 3-pointer early in the second quarter, and Gus Halberg added a 3-pointer of his own as the Riders clawed back to make the game competitive. Very quickly, what looked like an ugly Bremerton blowout was a 25-14 lead after the Riders went on a 14-2 run.
The Riders three times in the first half got the lead down to 11 points, but every time they did, Bremerton went on a mini-run to get the lead back up close to 20 points. Port Angeles could never manage a big run again. Still, after that terrible start, they did end up outscoring Bremerton 52-43 for the final 24½ minutes of the game.
“I think it says a lot about the character of our guys,” Ulin said. “We controlled three-quarters of the game.”
The Riders shot well from beyond the arc with 11 3-pointers. Sohlberg had five treys for 17 total points while Halberg had four 3-pointers and led the team with 18 points. Hunter Flores also hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Port Angeles (1-5, 4-7) just finished a tough stretch of its schedule with back-to-back games against league leaders Sequim and Bremerton. Now the next league games will be against Kingston (0-6, 2-10) and North Mason (2-4, 5-6).
The Riders will first play at Neah Bay (6-1) at 7 p.m. today, then play at Kingston (0-6, 1-10) on Tuesday.
Bremerton 66, Port Angeles 52
Brem. 25 15 12 14 — 66
PA 6 20 6 20 — 52
Port Angeles (52) — Halberg 18, Sohlberg 17, Flores 6, Angevine 4, Miller 2, Brenkman 2, Pierce 2, Hope 1.
Life Christian 64, East Jefferson 29
TACOMA — The East Jefferson boys struggled with their shooting in a 64-29 loss to Life Christian on Friday, snapping a two-game win streak.
Julius Mercado came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers and scored 17 to lead East Jefferson.
The Rivals (3-6) next host Charles Wright (0-2, 3-9) at 7 p.m. Monday in Port Townsend.
Life Christian 64, East Jefferson 29
EJ 2 7 9 11 —29
LC 21 10 17 8 — 64
