SEQUIM — Perhaps it was the inconsistent play or the knowledge of what lies ahead, but Sequim coaches and players weren’t content with their season-opening win over visiting Chimacum on Nov. 30.
“I have to remember, it’s game one with four sophomores and a junior out there,” Sequim boys hoops coach Greg Glasser said following Wednesday’s 50-35 win over the smaller 1A Cowboys squad.
“I think our inexperience showed there and they just kept hanging around,” he said.
“You hope it’s one of those games where you can make that separation.”
Sequim junior Payton Glasser paced the Wolves’ offense with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Wolves jumped out to an 11-0 lead just four minutes in, led 16-9 after one quarter and outscored Chimacum 10-0 in the second quarter. A resilient Cowboys squad led by Issac Purser (a team-high nine points), closed the gap to 39-25 after three quarters, but never managed to get the lead under double digits late in the game.
“There’s a lot of room for improvement but overall a great effort,” Sequim sophomore point guard Nate Despain said. “We’ll get better every day.”
The Sequim coach lauded Riley Cowan, the sophomore who guarded Lane Dotson and held the talented Cowboy post to just eight points, and his young team overall.
“It looked a little like game one at times,” Greg Glasser said. “[But] there was some nice ball movement … and that’s fun to watch.”
Despite shooting just 34.5 percent from the field (20-of-58) and 9.5 percent from long range (2-of-21), the Wolves out-rebounded Chimacum 43-25, had 11 steals and had 14 assists on 20 made shots.
Cowan finished with six points, four steals and five assists while Despain and Matt Willis had five points apiece. Keeshawn Whitney led the team with 10 rebounds.
Despain said the team starts practices with speed work and that helps Sequim get out of the proverbial gate strong.
“When we’re flying around and playing defense, I think we can be pretty good,” he said.
Sequim hopes to bring plenty of its best as they prepare for a daunting task: taking on defending class 4A champion Federal Way at home Saturday.
Junior varsity teams play at 5:15 p.m. with the varsity game set for 7 p.m.
“We can learn a lot from this [coming game],” Greg Glasser said.
“This is a great opportunity to show we play a little basketball up here.”
Coming up
Sequim has three road dates to start their Olympic League season: at Bremerton Dec. 7, at Olympic Dec. 9 and at North Kitsap Dec. 13.
The Wolves host Kingston on Dec. 16 and Centralia Dec. 20, and don’t play again — thanks to the winter holiday break — until a Jan. 3 home matchup with rival Port Angeles.
Sequim 50, Chimacum 35
Chimacum 9 0 16 10— 35
Sequim 16 10 13 11— 50
Chimacum (35) — Purser 9, L. Dotson 8, Hartnett 7, Hundley 7, Glessing 2, Winkley 2
Sequim (50) — Glasser 19, Cowan 6, Despain 5, Willis 5, Rollness 4, Williams 4, Whitney 2
________
Michael Dashiell is an editor with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at editor@sequimgazette.com.
