Saturday scoreboard: Cougs, Hawks advance; Pios get off the schneid; Geoducks women win home finale
Boys basketball
2A District IV playoffs
Capital 69, Hockinson 53
River Ridge 54, Washougal 51
WF West 78, Tumwater 60
Premier Arena Soccer League
Tumwater Pioneers 9, Oregon Blacktails 7 – Recap
Men’s basketball
Alaska Fairbanks 68, Saint Martin’s 67 (OT) – Recap from SMUSaints.com
Southern Oregon 75, Evergreen 56 – Recap from Evergreen athletics
Lower Columbia 76, SPSCC 57 – Box score
Women’s basketball
Evergreen 68, Southern Oregon 65 – Recap from Evergreen athletics
Central Washington 52, Saint Martin’s 38 – Recap from SMUSaints.com
Lower Columbia 71, SPSCC 29 – Box score
College baseball
UPS 12, Saint Martin’s 0 – Recap from SMUSaints.com
Today (2/9): Baseball is back; boys district playoffs; every college hoops team; Pioneers home finale
It’a a ridiculously busy day of sports in the South Sound. Let’s get right to it…
College baseball
Saint Martin’s vs. UPS – The RAC – 11:00 AM
Baseball season is upon us in early February and it looks like the weather will cooperate. Today, Saint Martin’s makes their home debut after dropping their opening series at Cal Poly Pomona last week.
Boys basketball
2A District IV playoffs
Capital vs. Hockinson – Capital HS – 7:00 PM
River Ridge @ Washougal – Washougal HS – 7:00 PM
Tumwater @ WF West – Chehalis – 8:00 PM
Women’s basketball
SPSCC vs. Lower Columbia – SPSCC Gym – 3:00 PM
Saint Martin’s vs. Central Washington – Marcus Pavilion – 5:15 PM
Evergreen vs. Southern Oregon – CRC Gymnasium – 5:30 PM
Saint Martin’s faces a critical test tonight with Central Washington in town. The Saints offense has been virtually non-existent in the last two games and as a result, they have fallen out of a playoff spot currently sitting in seventh place at 4-8. Central sits right behind them in eighth at 3-8.
It’s senior night at Evergreen and the Geoducks will honor four players wrapping up their careers before tonight’s game against Southern Oregon. Seniors Jessica Edge and Dela Jones will be joined by juniors Maddie Graves and Danielle Swain, both of whom are graduating and moving on with a year of eligibility remaining.
Men’s basketball
SPSCC vs. Lower Columbia – SPSCC Gym – 5:00 PM
Saint Martin’s vs. Alaska Fairbanks – Marcus Pavilion – 7:30 PM
Evergreen vs. Southern Oregon – CRC Gymnasium – 7:30 PM
Saint Martin’s upset Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, can they pull off another Alaska upset tonight when they face the Nanooks? Fairbanks sits in a tie for third place in the GNAC at 7-5 while the Saints win got them back into the hunt for the final playoff spot. They currently sit in eighth place at 3-8.
Travis Wagner and Elzie Dickens will play their last game at Evergreen tonight when the Geoducks host #24 ranked Southern Oregon. The two seniors were the only returners from last season’s one win team.
Premier Arena Soccer League
Tumwater Pioneers vs. Oregon Blacktails – Tumwater Indoor Sports – 7:00 PM
The Tumwater Pioneers wrap up the home schedule of their inaugural season still in search of their first win. After a tough stretch that saw them take on the top two teams in the league three times, the Pios host fellow expansion team Oregon tonight. The Blacktails sit at 2-5 and have lost four straight games, their last win coming against the Pios in December. Tickets are just $5 for adults.
Friday scoreboard: Hawks, Wolves advance; Hustlin’ Owls sweep Geoducks
Girls basketball
2A District IV playoffs
River Ridge 54, Washougal 38
Black Hills 56, Hockinson 43
River Ridge allowed just 10 first half points taking a 20 point lead into the break and held on to knock off Washougal, 54-38, in the first round of the 2A District IV playoffs. Rebecca Stevenson scored 16 points for and Savannah Gill added 13 points for the Hawks. They move on to face 19-2 Mark Morris on Tuesday night at either WF West or Centralia.
Hope Mortensen scored 19 points to lead Black Hills to a 56-43 win over Hockinson in Brush Prairie. The Wolves opened up a seven point lead in the first quarter and held Hockinson to just five points in the third to advance to the second round of the 2A District IV playoffs. Black Hills will face WF West, the top seed from the EvCo, in the next round on Tuesday at either WF West or Centralia.
3A Narrows League
North Thurston 55, Foss 31
Women’s basketball
Oregon Tech 46, Evergreen 35 – Recap from Evergreen athletics
Men’s basketball
Oregon Tech 68, Evergreen 54 – Recap from Evergreen athletics
Tonight (2/8): Geoducks open final home series; 2A girls basketball districts
Girls basketball – 2A District playoffs
River Ridge vs. Washougal – River Ridge HS – 7:00 PM
Black Hills @ Hockinson – Brush Prairie – 7:00 PM
Women’s basketball
Evergreen vs. Oregon Tech – CRC Gymnasium – 5:30 PM
Men’s basketball
Evergreen vs. Oregon Tech – CRC Gymnasium – 7:00 PM
Thursday scoreboard: Saints’ stout D leads to an upset and a near upset; PJPII season ends
Women’s basketball
Northwest Nazarene 49, Saint Martin’s 41 – Recap from SMUSaints.com
Saint Martin’s spotted Northwest Nazarene 16 points to open the game and fell behind again by as many as 15 in the second half but behind a tremendous defensive effort, they cut the Crusaders lead to just one point at 42-41 before NNU pulled away and avoided the upset with a 49-41 win.
The Saints were ice cold to start each half but managed to rally twice to make the game interesting. They didn’t score their first point until a free throw by Chelsea Haskey at the 11:19 mark and didn’t hit their first field goal until the 9:34 mark but went on a 15-3 run over the final six minutes of the first half to cut the Crusaders lead to 25-20 going into the locker room.
Again Northwest Nazarene opened up a big lead with a 12-2 run to open the second half but again the Saints came back cutting the lead to one point twice in the final five minutes. But the Saints were unable to convert and take the lead both times and the Crusaders scored the final seven points to drop the Saints to 4-8 in league play.
GNAC leading scorer Megan Hingston scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds but the Saints limited Chelsie Luke, the GNAC’s fourth leading scorer, to just eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. The Saints held the GNAC’s highest scoring team well under their season average on 30.2% shooting.
No SMU player scored in double digits but Chelsea Haskey, Angela Gelhar and Jordyn Richardson each scored nine points. Mackenzie Taylor scored eight points, all in the first half, and pulled down nine rebounds.
Men’s basketball
Saint Martin’s 60, Alaska Anchorage 52 – Recap from SMUSaints.com
Evan Coulter scored 18 points and Roger O’Neill added 14 points second half points to lead Saint Martin’s to a 60-52 upset of third place Alaska Anchorage in the second game of a men’s and women’s doubleheader at Marcus Pavilion.
As in the women’s game, the Saints’ defense stepped up and held down a high scoring offense. The men held the third highest scoring team in the GNAC to their lowest total of the season and limited the Seawolves three point shooting ace, Kyle Fossman, to just one bucket from long distance. Fossman did score 13 points but shot just 3-of-11 from the field. Teancum Stafford led the Seawolves with 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
Four Saints scored in double digits. Besides Coulter and O’Neill, Brady Bomber scored 11 points hitting three triples and Will Bond added 10 points off the bench. Lucas Shannon scored seven points off the bench but no other Saint got on the board. The Saints second and fourth leading scorers, Eric Taylor and Rei Jensen, were each held scoreless.
The win did come at a cost. The Saints starting center and the GNAC’s top shot blocker Matt Dodson went down with an apparent knee injury in the second half. The 6-10 junior blocked two shots in the first half.
Boys basketball
North River 40, Pope John Paul II 36
Today (2/7): Saints basketball doubleheader
Women’s basketball
Saint Martin’s vs. Northwest Nazarene – Marcus Pavilion – 5:15 PM
Men’s basketball
Saint Martin’s vs. Alaska Anchorage – Marcus Pavilion – 7:30 PM
Olympia Reign out for the 2013 season
Nate Menafee starred for the Olympia Reign but won’t have a home in 2013
The Olympia Reign announced on their Facebook page today that they will forgo the 2013 International Basketball League season after The Squaxin Island Tribe and Little Creek Casino did not renew their sponsorship. Here is the full statement from the team…
I would like to announce that the Olympia Reign will not compete in the 2013 season. Squaxin Island Tribe and Little Creek Casino did not renew the sponsorship for the upcoming season. Therefore, unless another sponsor or partner steps up we will have to forego the season. I would like to thank the Squaxin Island Tribe and Little Creek Casino for their support the last 2 years. I would like to thank all the staff and players for all their efforts over the years. I would like to thank the Olympia Reign fans as their support was much appreciated. It was nice to see the fan base grow and the following we had was really getting strong. I am saddened that after 6 years I have to pull out of the 2013 season. Thanks again to everyone!
The Reign moved to Little Creek Casino in 2012 after five seasons of playing their home games at Evergreen. The Squaxin Island Tribe purchased a basketball court for use in their Skookum Creek Events Center and the team drew marginally better than they had in previous seasons, partially because of a much better facility and marketing by Little Creek. But the Reign never developed a strong following despite lasting for a remarkable six seasons. You have to credit owner Mark Felton for keeping them alive for that long in spite of heavy losses.
The Skookum Creek Events Center had (has?) potential to be a viable facility with a decent concession stand, alcohol sales and even the possibility of luxury seating, but I’d assume that without the tribe on board as a sponsor, the facility rental would be too expensive to justify given the team’s attendance history and without an investment in some serious marketing and another major sponsor.
Unfortunately, my lasting memory of the Olympia Reign comes from the 2010 season when the Los Angeles Lightning came to town in the Reign’s regular season finale. The team promoted the fact that the Lightning featured former NBA players Byron Russell, Tyus Edney, Lamond Murray, Toby Bailey and Fred Vinson and The Olympian ran an article titled “L.A. brings ex-NBA players to Olympia” previewing the game.
But knowing minor league basketball and the LA Lightning in particular, I knew that the ex-NBA players featured in the article never traveled with the team. And sure enough, when the two teams took the court in front of a relatively large crowd, not a single ex-NBA player mentioned in the article had made the trip. Even the Reign’s Nate Menefee, mentioned prominently in the article, wasn’t in uniform. He showed up a little before halftime in street clothes, obviously after getting off of work, and played an electrifying second half scoring 27 points to lead the Reign to a 136-129 win. But without the ex-NBA players that were promised and a rather ragged level of play, it just wasn’t enough to make many in attendance lasting fans.
Tuesday scoreboard: T-Birds girls knock off Tigers; Wallace’s 35 leads Hawks
Girls basketball
Tumwater 63, Centralia 47
WF West 57, Black Hills 31
River Ridge vs. Aberdeen – No report
Top scorers: Ashley Christoffer (Tumwater)...16 Lacye Groening (Tumwater).......13 Sydney Sauls (Black Hills).......8 Hope Moretensen (Black Hills)....8
Boys basketball
River Ridge 73, Aberdeen 54
Centralia 84, Tumwater 73
WF West 64, Black Hills 42
Top scorers (no Black Hills stats): Brad Wallace (River Ridge)...35 David Cooper (Tumwater)......21
Tonight (1/29): T- Birds, Hawks girls, Wolves boys host conference tilts
Girls basketball
Tumwater vs. Centralia – Tumwater HS – 7:30 PM
River Ridge vs. Aberdeen – River Ridge HS – 7:30 PM
Boys basketball
Black Hills vs. WF West – Black Hills HS – 7:30 PM
Oly Sports was on vacation
Oly Sports is was on vacation for the next week. I will be checking in periodically and maybe continuing regular scoreboards and whatnot, but no promises. New content will be underneath this post on the main page.
If you are looking for schedules, check the calendar on the right hand sidebar or click here.
Regular posting will resume resumed on Thursday, February 6th.
Oly Sports 