Oly Sports turns one today!
Today is OlySports.com’s one year birthday! Started a year ago in a fit of inspiration and boredom during the big snow and ice storm last January, Oly Sports has posted 698 previews/recaps/stories (and will have 700 by the end of the day) and has sent nearly 3,900 tweets on the @OlySportsBlog Twitter account.
In that time, this website has opened up so many fun opportunities for me including calling Shelton High School football games for KMAS, Saint Martin’s basketball game webcast for the Saints and serving as communications coordinator for the Tumwater Pioneers.
Throughout the day, I’ll be adding my thoughts about the future of Oly Sports, proud moments, favorite posts and more to this post so check back to read more on this happy anniversary. I will also pick one random commenter and give them an OlySports.com t-shirt in their choice of size and color.
First up, my favorite photo gallery that I’ve featured in the first year from the Pope John Paul II game just last week…
Favorite photo gallery: Pope John Paul II vs. Columbia Adventist
Tonight (1/18): Busy night of boys basketball
Boys basketball
Timberline vs. Lincoln – Timberline HS – 7:00 PM
Olympia vs. Gig Harbor – Olympia HS – 7:00 PM
North Thurston vs. South Kitsap – North Thurston HS – 7:00 PM
Capital @ River Ridge – River Ridge HS – 7:30 PM
Black Hills vs. Centralia – Black Hills HS – 7:30 PM
Busy night of boys basketball in the Olympia area tonight. If you have to choose one game, I’d suggest heading to Timberline to watch four Division I recruits when the Blazers host #1 ranked Lincoln at 7:00 PM.
The Blazers are led by Donaven Dorsey, a junior with offers from Gonzaga, UW and Wazzu amongst others. Timberline is 8-5 overall and 3-3 in the 3A Narrows League.
Lincoln features Colorado bound senior Tre’Shaun Fletching, California committed Ahmaad Rorie, last year’s 2A player of the year at Clover Park, and junior Armond Davis not to mention Caden Rowland. The Abe’s are 12-1 this season and undefeated in the 3A Narrows.
Girls basketball
Capital @ River Ridge – River Ridge HS – 5:45 PM
Thursday scoreboard: Saints shut down Clan; Wolves maul Tigers
Men’s basketball
Post game interview from SMU Saints YouTube channel
Saint Martin’s 78, Simon Fraser 65 – Recap from SMUSaints.com
Saint Martin’s made seven three pointers in the first half and opened up a 12 point lead, 37-25, going into the break and used stingy defense to hold the GNAC’s third leading scoring team well below their average en route to a 78-65 win over Simon Fraser.
Eric Taylor missed just one shot all night going 6-of-7 from the field including two threes and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line to finish with 18 points. Rei Jensen equalled Taylor with 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Not to be outdone, Roger O’Neill added 17 points and the Saints moved to 2-4 in the GNAC.
Saints center Matt Dodson blocked three shots and Will Bond added two more each on Clan three point attempts. Bond finished with seven points in just ten minutes of action.
Anto Olah and Matt Raivio each scored 14 points for the Clan who shot just 33.3% from the field and lost their eighth straight game. Simon Fraser is now 0-6 and remain in the conference basement.
Girls basketball
Black Hills 76, Centralia 56
WF West 56, Tumwater 14
Top scorers: Hope Mortensen (Black Hills)...20 Sarah McGee (Black Hills)......18 Lacye Groening (Tumwater).......7
Boys basketball
Ocosta 46, Northwest Christian 40
Three Rivers Christian 73, Pope John Paul II 30
Top scorers: Xin Gao (PJP2)........................14 Austin Koukal (Northwest Christian)...12
Tonight (1/17): Saints host Clan; Navs, Eagles at home
The Saint Martin’s men’s basketball team returns to action tonight when they welcome Simon Fraser to Marcus Pavilion, the first of two games this week that includes a match-up with defending national champion and undefeated Western Washington on Saturday night.
The Saints are coming off of a tough trip to Alaska that saw them drop a pair of games to Alaska-Fairbanks, an 81-58 blowout on Thursday, and Alaska-Anchorage, 74-71 on Saturday night. They now sit tied for eighth place in the GNAC at 1-4 and are 5-8 overall.
Meanwhile, Simon Fraser comes into the game having lost seven straight games and are 0-5 in the GNAC and 5-8 overall. The Clan has only beaten an NCAA team once this season topping Notre Dame de Namur in November. Their other wins have come against Northwest Indian College (twice) and a pair of Canadian colleges. But the Clan can score, averaging 81 points per game behind just Central Washington and Western Washington in the GNAC.
Tip-off tonight is scheduled for 7:00 PM. The first 50 fans through the doors will receive a Saint Martin’s Saints souvenir water bottle.
A pair of small high school basketball games are also on tap tonight…
Northwest Christian vs. Ocosta – Northwest Christian HS – 7:00 PM
Pope John Paul II vs. Three Rivers Christian – St. Michael’s Gym – 7:00 PM
Wednesday scoreboard: Blazers sweep Rams; Randich’s 27 leads Bears to league win
Boys basketball
Timberline 63, North Thurston 31
Central Kitsap 55, Olympia 52
Top scorers: Tru Hicks (North Thurston)....14 Elijah Sanders (Timberline)...13 Michael Naipo (Olympia).......13
Girls basketball
Timberline 49, North Thurston 48
Olympia 78, Central Kitsap 71 (OT)
Top scorers: Jenna Randich (Olympia).............27 Kajana Fernandus (North Thurston)...21 Sarah Snodgrass (Olympia)...........17 Faith Sebula (Olympia)..............17 Brittany Sebesta (North Thurston)...11 Kiera Allen (Timberline)............10 Callan Russell (Timberline).........10
Men’s basketball
Tacoma 81, SPSCC 46
Women’s basketball
Tacoma 75, SPSCC 36 – Box score
Tonight (1/16): Lacey rivalry on tap; Bears face Central Kitsap; SPSCC doubleheader
Boys basketball
North Thurston @ Timberline – Timberline HS – 7:00 PM
Girls basketball
Timberline @ North Thurston – North Thurston HS – 7:00 PM
Olympia vs. Central Kitsap – Olympia HS – 7:00 PM
Women’s basketball
SPSCC vs. Tacoma – SPSCC Gym – 6:00 PM
Men’s basketball
SPSCC vs. Tacoma – SPSCC Gym – 8:00 PM
Tuesday scoreboard: Hawks hand Cats first league loss; Cougs, Wolves, Navs pick up conference wins
Boys basketball
River Ridge 73, WF West 50
Capital 57, Tumwater 51
Aberdeen 57, Black Hills 49
Winlock 62, Northwest Christian 47
Pope John Paul II vs. Firm Foundation – No report
With Brock Wade out with the flu, first place WF West struggled to score against River Ridge and behind 18 first half points from Brad Wallace, the Hawks took a 30-18 at the break.
After an even third quarter, River Ridge quickly built their lead to 16 points, 46-30, in the early stages of the fourth. The Bearcats then went on a 15-5 run cutting the River Ridge lead to six at the 4:51 mark before Hawks head coach John Barbee stopped the bleeding with a timeout. Within a minute and a half, River Ridge built their lead back to 13 points and never looked back closing the game with a 22-5 run that gave them a 73-50 win and moved their 2A EvCo league record to 4-3.
Brad Wallace finished with 29 points for the Hawks. The loss was the first conference defeat of the season for WF West. They still sit in first place at 6-1.
Top scorers (No Black Hills or other River Ridge stats): Brad Wallace (River Ridge)..............29 Elijah Shoffner (Northwest Christian)...18 Jayden Croft (Tumwater).................18 Keenan Williams (Capital)...............17
Girls basketball
Northwest Christian 38, Ocosta 19
Black Hills 83, Aberdeen 53
Capital 30, Tumwater 20
WF West 51, River Ridge 36
Top scorers (No River Ridge stats available): Sarah McGee (Black Hills)................20 Mackenzie Reeves (Northwest Christian)...15 Hope Mortensen (Black Hills).............14 Hailey Bredeson (Northwest Christian)....11 Sophie Rice (Capital)....................11
Tonight (1/15): Hawks host Bearcats, T-Birds face Cougars
Boys basketball takes center stage in town tonight with a pair of intriguing 2A EvCo games
Preseason favorite River Ridge currently sits at 3-3 in league play, three games behind undefeated WF West. The Bearcats come to Lacey tonight where the Hawks will try to avenge one of their two losses. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM.
On December 11th, without head coach John Barbee on the bench following an ejection during the JV game, Brad Wallace hit a three pointer with 14 seconds remaining to give River Ridge the lead. But Brock Wade answered right back hitting a bucket with three seconds left to give WF West a 61-60 win. Wallace finished with 20 points. Since that game, Wallace has scored 30 points in five of seven games.
Across town, second place Capital travels to Tumwater to take on the T-Birds. The Cougars are 4-2 in EvCo play including a 78-58 contentious win over the T-Birds on December 11th. Jared Eidenmuller scored 29 points for Capital in the win. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM.
In other boys basketball action…
Northwest Christian vs. Winlock – Northwest Christian HS – 7:00 PM
Pope John Paul II vs. Firm Foundation – St. Michael’s Gym – 7:00 PM
And one girls basketball game on the local schedule tonight when Capital hosts Tumwater. The T-Birds sit one game ahead of the Cougars at the bottom of the EvCo standings with their one league win coming against Capital on December 11th. Lacye Groening scored 18 points in the victory.
Today (1/13): Rise battle Crush
American Basketball Association
Olympia Rise vs. Calgary Crush – CRC Gymnasium – 4:00 PM 3:00 PM
Saturday scoreboard: Cougs, Navs, Rams nab conference wins
I have been sick for the last couple days, so apologies for the lack of posts. Let’s get to these Saturday scores…
Men’s basketball
Alaska-Anchorage 74, Saint Martin’s 71 – Recap from SMUSaints.com
Oregon Tech 71, Evergreen 68 – Recap from Evergreen athletics
Pierce 92, SPSCC 48 – Box score
Women’s basketball
Northwest Nazarene 86, Saint Martin’s 69 – Recap from SMUSaints.com
Oregon Tech 64, Evergreen 43 – Recap from Evergreen athletics
Pierce 74, SPSCC 51 – Box score
Premier Arena Soccer League
South Sound Shock 11, Tumwater Pioneers 2 – Recap from TumwaterPioneers.com
Boys basketball
Capital 52, Black Hills 33
Northwest Christian 60, South Bend 52
Girls basketball
North Thurston 48, Aberdeen 39
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