Boys basketball

In a wide open 2A EvCo, Tumwater’s convincing 69-55 win over Capital helps them lay claim as the team to beat. David Cooper lead all scorers with 22 points and Josiah Warner added 18 in a game that saw the T-Birds jump out to a 10 point lead after the first eight minutes.  Jacob Pratt scored 19 points for the Cougars in the loss.

Aberdeen took a 16-14 lead at the beginning of the second quarter but Black Hills put their foot on the gas and finished the quarter on an 18-2 run and never looked back en route to a 55-34 win.

With a 23 point third quarter, River Ridge broke a halftime tie to take a 58-51 lead. But WF West scored 34 points in a wild, 54 points total fourth quarter and the Bearcats walked away with an 85-78 win in the 2A EvCo opener. Tanner Gueller scored 31 points for WF West while Jason Kananin and Kobe Key scored 25 and 22 points respectively for the Hawks.

Northwest Christian moved to 1-1 in the 2B Pacific with their 51-27 win in South Bend. They are now 3-3 overall.

Girls basketball

Shayla Smothers scored 19 points, Sarah McGee added 17 and Sydney Sauls chipped in 14 for Black Hills in their 2A conference opener 73-35 thumping of Aberdeen.

Capital took a six point lead after the first quarter and steadily pulled away from Tumwater in their conference opening 54-40 win. The Cougars’ Rachel Fenton and T-Birds’ Mackenzie Bergquist each scored 15 points, the only double digit scorers for either team.

The game of the night turned into a WF West defensive clinic in the second quarter when the Bearcats held River Ridge to just two points in their 43-23 win to open conference play. Washington State signee Nike McClure scored 13 points and pulled down 15 boards for the Bearcats while McKenna Schultz outscored the rest of her team with 15 points for the Hawks.

Women’s basketball