YAKIMA — State trophy secured. Sequim will bring home the school’s first-ever girls basketball state trophy after the Wolves led from wire-to-wire in beating Tumwater 38-24 on Friday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Sequim (22-4) will play for fourth/sixth place today at 9:30 a.m. against Othello (19-10). The Huskies stayed alive by beating W.F. West (Chehalis) 56-44 in a loser-out game earlier Friday.
Against the Thunderbirds on Friday, Sequim’s defense shined in holding down short-handed Tumwater from the opening tip. The Wolves held the T-Birds scoreless for more than a quarter of the contest as Tumwater missed 20 straight shots from the field from 6:21 in the first quarter until making a 3-pointer with 4:51 remaining in the second.
Sequim managed to grow its lead to 23-8 at halftime, getting three big free throws from Hannah Bates after she was fouled while shooting a trey, and eight of Jolene Vaara’s game-high 17 points came in the second quarter.
Vaara finished 8 of 15 from the field with four steals.
Bates had 10 points, including hitting all five of her free throw attempts, plus three steals.
Jelissa Julmist added nine points and worked hard inside to grab 10 rebounds.
Dani Herman added two blocks off the bench down low.
“It was a much better day shooting the ball,” coach Joclin Julmist said.
“Hannah did a great job leading us tonight on both sides. Jolene was good getting out on the breaks and finishing. She also did a good job playing defense and stayed out of foul trouble. Jelissa had a better game today she worked hard but still struggled with finishing and shooting from the line she worked really hard. Taryn [Johnonson] was special on both sides. Even though she didn’t score, she had a huge impact on the outcome of the game. She played great defense and was always in help side. She had some good passes today. Sammie [Bacon] worked hard on the boards and playing defense. Dani came in and got some rebounds and had a few blocks. Libby [Turella} worked hard when she got in and mikkie
The Wolves held the T-Birds to just 3 of 29 shooting (10 percent) in the first half and 9 for 58 (15 percent) for the game while hitting enough of their own attempts to hold a comfortable, if not insurmountable, lead through both the third and fourth quarters.
Sequim wasn’t great from the field, but doubled up Tumwater, shooting 15 of 47 (32 percent) for the contest.
Tumwater pulled within 12 at 26-14 and 28-16 at two points in the third quarter, but could come no closer despite a Sequim scoring drought of 6:21 between the third and fourth quarters.
Similar to Sequim last season when the Wolves lost Julmist to a season-ending injury before the postseason, the T-Birds were without leading scorer Regan Brewer, who suffered an ACL tear in the team’s state regional round loss to Prosser.
Sequim made previous state tournament appearances in 1986, 1987, 2007 and 2019 but never earned hardware.
Sequim 38, Tumwater 24
Tumwater 3 5 8 8 — 24
Sequim 10 13 7 8 — 38
Tumwater (24) — Waltermeyer 12, Larson 8, Woods 3, Simmons 1.
Sequim (38) — Vaara 17, Bates 10, Julmist 9, Turella 2, Herman, Green, Johnson, Bacon.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
David Willoughby/for Peninsula Daily News Sequim’s Taryn Johnson tries to save possession while jumping out of bounds during the Wolves’ 38-24 state victory Friday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
David Willoughby/for Peninsula Daily News Sequim’s Jolene Vaara scraps for possession of the ball with a Tumwater player during the Wolves’ 38-24 state victory Friday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
