YAKIMA — The Sequim girls basketball team got off to a great start, made a great finish and all throughout the game had Hannah Bates wreaking havoc upon the Sammamish Redhawks.
The Wolves won their state 2A opener at the Yakima SunDome late Wednesday night 57-37. Bates led the way with a fantastic game, especially late and on defense. She filled up the stat book with 14 points, six steals, seven rebounds and four assists. All while running the Sequim offense and making one turnover.
Sequim dominated the boards with a 47-30 edge in rebounding. The Wolves had five players with at least six rebounds with Jelissa Julmist leading the way with 15 boards.
“The girls stepped it up on the defensive side in the second half,” said coach Joclin Julmist. “We did a pretty good job on the boards, not giving them second chances. Hannah did a great job leading tonight and Jelissa was a beast on the boards.”
Both teams appeared nervous early and struggled to get their shots to fall. The Wolves started the game with a 10-2 lead as they didn’t allow a Sammamish field goal for the first seven minutes of the first quarter.
The Redhawks were eventually able to claw back into the game, mostly behind the shooting of Katie Anderson, who was basically their entire offense with 21 points.
With the game tied 28-28 midway through the third quarter, Bates and her teammates took over as Sequim’s offense finally started clicking. Bates had two buckets, a steal and an assist as the Wolves went on a 9-1 run to end the third quarter.
In the fourth, Julmist, who also had a big second half, somehow muscled through a Redhawks’ double team to score a basket and then Bates added yet another steal and a basket, getting fouled and hitting a free throw. Sammie Bacon had a putback on a miss to make it 44-29 as the Wolves extended their run to 16-1.
Sequim finished the game outscoring the Redhawks 29-9 as Sammamish got a few late buckets but was never able to get the margin down to single digits after the Wolves’ huge defensive and offensive explosion.
Julmist and Jolene Vaara also had big games. Julmist got most of her points in the second half, finishing with 12. Vaara did a great job of breaking down the court for quick scores on long passes, and making slick cuts in the key for 16 points, leading the Wolves. She added three steals and two blocks.
Dani Herman had a solid game with five points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while Bacon and Taryn Johnson each had six rebounds.
“Jolene was really good the second half getting her hands on stuff and creating easy baskets,” coach Julmist said. “Taryn [Johnson] was good on the defensive side and made some really good passes. Sammie and Dani were strong in the post and on the boards. Libby [Turella] was good on the defensive side and made a big [3-point] shot when things weren’t looking good in the first half.”
Sequim (20-3) plays No. 7 seed White River (18-6) at 9 p.m. Thursday (today) at the Yakima SunDome in the state quarterfinals. Win or lose, the Wolves move on, either to play in the state semifinals at 9 p.m. Friday or in the consolation bracket at 2 p.m. Friday. Either way, they will play Tumwater or Burlington-Edison.
Sequim 57, Sammamish 37
Seq. 10 13 14 20 — 57
Sam. 4 14 11 8 —37
Sequim (57) — Vaara 16, Bates 14, Julmist 12, Herman 5, Johnson 4, Bacon 3, Turella 3.
Sammamish (37) — Anderson 21, Eastman 11, Shaggs 4, Hemnes 1.
Sequim’s Hannah Bates (2), Libby Turella and Dani Herman (24) celebrates the Wolves’ 57-37 state 2A tournament win over Sammamish. In the foreground is Taylor Heyting. (David Willoughby/for Peninsula Daily News)
Sequim’s Jelissa Julmist battles through a Sammamish double team. Julmist finished the game with 15 rebounds and 12 points, doing much of her damage in the second half. (David Willoughby/for Peninsula Daily News)
