SEQUIM — Games don’t get any bigger than this.
The Port Angeles boys basketball team plays at Sequim tonight (at 7) in the final game of the regular season for both teams.
Currently, the Roughriders sit alone in second place (12-3 league, 16-3 overall) while the Wolves are alone in third (11-4, 14-5).
The outcome will determine second place in the Olympic League and the conference’s No. 2 seed for the playoffs.
That second seed is important because it guarantees a top-four seed at the West Central District tournament, which gives a bye in the first round while the third seed has to play in the first round.
The third-place team will be playing in the subdistricts this weekend for a fifth through eighth district seed.
But beyond that this game is big for many other reasons, and one of the more important reasons is that these archrivals love to beat each other.
The Wolves put a whooping on the Roughriders the first time the teams met this year at Port Angeles High School on Jan. 13.
The lopsided score was 48-32.
“The score could have been worse the way we played,” Port Angeles coach Wes Armstrong said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well and we didn’t play good defense.”
“I’m watching film of that game right now,” Sequim coach Greg Glasser said Monday afternoon, “and I see a lot of nervous energy out there and a packed house.
“I don’t want to make it sound so simple, but really, it came down to us making a few more baskets than they did.”
Glasser added that he is feeling confident going into tonight’s contest but that he expects a much different game this time around.
“I know that Port Angeles is going to come out and play a tough game,” Glasser said. “Wes will have them prepared.
“I’m expecting a dogfight, really.”
Armstrong’s strategy is to try to put a clamp on Sequim’s top three scorers — Corbin Webb, Jayson Brocklesby and Gabe Carter — who helped lead the Wolves to an 88-52 beat-down of tough Bremerton on Saturday night.
Red-hot and smoking
The 88 points are the most Sequim has scored in the past 11 years.
“First of all, we have to focus defensively,” Armstrong said. “We have to stop their big three and keep them off the boards.
“We have to keep them off the glass because they will kill you on the offensive boards.”
Offensively, the Riders need to be able to handle whatever defense the Wolves are throwing at them — whether it’s a zone, the press or man-to-man, Armstrong said.
The coach said he isn’t expecting a repeat of the first game.
“We have already lost two big games at home,” Armstrong said.
“Our guys are a little big hungry. [It will be a charged atmosphere] but our guys are pretty relaxed and pretty seasoned.
“They will compete at a high level.”
Big 6-foot-8 Easton Napiontek, who was a major force for the Riders in the beginning of the season, has been out of action since Dec. 12 and won’t be available for tonight’s game.
“He’s out for the year,” Armstrong said.
Junior Marshall Elliott, 6-4, has been filling in for Napiontek.
“Marshall is very active and aggressive under the boards,” Glasser said.
“It will be a challenge for us to corral him, and for us to corral [Hayden] McCartney.”
But the Riders aren’t a two-player team, Glasser said.
“Cole Uvila shot well against us in the first game and Cameron [Braithwaite] and Keenen Walker also can shoot the ball well.
“They have a lot of shooters on their team.”
The Wolves, though, are playing red-hot right now.
“We played one of our best overall games of the year against Bremerton on Saturday,” Glasser said.
“The kids shared the ball nicely and shot well.”
Another factor tonight will be a little extra emotional energy for the Wolves because this will be Senior Night.
“It will be an emotional game for our seniors,” Glasser said. “We will have to corral those emotions and let them work for us, and not against us.”
Playing their final high school game in the Sequim gym are seniors Evan Hill, Frank Catelli and Webb.
It will be a doubleheader tonight with the Sequim girls hosting Port Angeles starting at 5:15 p.m.
Expect a packed gym and limited parking.
