Schedule for Friday, December 28th
Boys basketball
Tumwater vs. Yelm – North Thurston HS – 5:15 PM
River Ridge @ North Thurston – North Thurston HS – 7:00 PM
Girls basketball
River Ridge vs. Peninsula – River Ridge HS – 7:30 PM
Today (1/3): #5 Hawks Battle #6 Wolves in Big EvCo Girls Matchup
Boys basketball
Northwest Christian vs. Ocosta – Northwest Christian HS – 7:00 PM
Olympia vs. Stadium – Olympia HS – 7:00 PM
River Ridge @ Black Hills – Black Hills HS – 7:30 PM – Radio: ESN
Capital vs. Centralia – Capital HS – 7:30 PM
League basketball gets back underway just a little bit before actual classes get underway. Can Olympia right the league ship and challenge 4A Narrows League leader Stadium at Chick Rockey Gym tonight? Black Hills and River Ridge have identical records, who will separate themselves in the wide open 2A EvCo? Can Capital bounce back after dropping two games in Yakima to 1A teams?
Girls basketball
River Ridge @ Black Hills – Black Hills HS – 6:00 PM – Radio: ESN
North Thurston vs. Wilson – North Thurston HS – 7:00 PM
The highlight of the night comes at 6:00 when Black Hills hosts River Ridge in a key battle between two of the top teams in the 2A EvCo. Both teams sit at 7-1 overall this season but the Wolves have a game advantage in the conference standings after River Ridge fell to superpower WF West in December. River Ridge was ranked #5 and Black Hills was was ranked #6 in 2A in the last Seattle Times girls basketball rankings.
Thursday Scoreboard: Clippers Win NWAACC West Opener at LCC
Men’s basketball
| MSU-Billings 66, Saint Martin’s 50 – Recap | |||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSU-Billings (2-1 GNAC, 6-5 overall) | 32 | 34 | 66 |
| Saint Martin’s (1-2 GNAC, 4-7 overall) | 20 | 30 | 50 |
| SMU leader: Riley Carel – 12 points |
University of Maine transfer Jonathan Mesghna scored 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in a 66-50 Montana State-Billings win over Saint Martin’s at Marcus Pavilion on Thursday night. Riley Carel scored 12 points to lead the way for the Saints.
The two teams played a relatively even game in a couple of aspects. Montana State-Billings went 19-for-56 (33.9%) from the field and 6-for-23 from behind the three point arc while Saint Martin’s went 17-for-54 (31.5%) and an identical 6-for-23 from three.
However, the biggest difference was free throw shooting. The Saints made just 10-of-23 from the line including just 1-of-7 in the first half while the Yellowjackets went 22-for-27 including 19 of their 34 second half points.
Matt Dodson racked up six blocks for the Saints and Ryan Rogers chipped in ten points.
SMU fell to 1-2 in the GNAC and will next face #11 Seattle Pacific at 7:30 on Saturday night.
| SPSCC 65, Lower Columbia 59 – Box score | |||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPSCC (1-0 NWAACC West, 1-8 overall) | 29 | 36 | 65 |
| Lower Columbia (0-1 NWAACC West, 2-8 overall) | 21 | 38 | 59 |
| SPSCC leader: Austin Bonds – 20 points |
Austin Bonds poured in 20 points and Slanblaytee Kaye scored 17 points with seven boards and four assists in South Puget Sound won their first game of the season in their 65-59 shorthanded, league opener win at Lower Columbia in Longview.
The Clippers played just six players and Bonds, Kaye, Keegan Liebelt and Brandon McGurkin all played all 40 minutes. Liebelt scored 11 points including three three pointers and McGurkin chipped in 10 points.
SPSCC is 1-0 in the NWACC West Division and 1-8 overall.
Women’s basketball
| Lower Columbia 82, SPSCC 64 – Box score | |||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPSCC (0-1 NWAACC West, 1-9 overall) | 35 | 29 | 64 |
| Lower Columbia (1-0 NWAACC West, 8-4 overall) | 39 | 43 | 82 |
| SPSCC leader: Skaar, Stancil – 13 points |
Dramikha Skaar and Ashley Stancil each scored 13 points and LaKeisha Anger chipped in 12 for South Puget Sound but Lower Columbia was too much for the Clippers in the second half and pulled away for an 82-64 win in Longview.
Today (1/2): Kick Off 2014 With Some Saint Martin’s Hoops
Men’s basketball
Saint Martin’s vs. Montana State-Billings – Marcus Pavilion – 7:00 PM
Whoa baby, it’s good to be back. You see, I closed out my 2013 and kicked off 2014 sick as a dog. In fact, I missed the Seahawks game on Sunday to sleep all day and basically have been neglectful of all Oly Sports duties since Saturday night. Fun times.
But I’m back to full health and will be at the first sporting event of the new year tonight when the Saint Martin’s men play host to the Montana State-Billings Yellowjackets at Marcus Pavilion. The Saints enter the game at 1-1 in GNAC play after a win over Simon Fraser in Burnaby and a loss to Western Washington in Bellingham in early December. The Saints are 4-6 overall and have won three games in a row (other than a exhibition loss to Division I Montana).
Montana State-Billings enters the game at 5-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play. They knocked off Central Washington in the opening weekend of GNAC play for their GNAC victory. The Yellowjackets haven’t played since December 21st when they lost to Long Beach State in an exhibition game.
Live video with me, Brandon Sparks, on the call and live stats can be seen by clicking here if you can’t make it to the Pavilion. But you should come down, it should be an entertaining game. There are no high school games tonight and tickets are cheap.
Saturday Late Scores: T-Birds, Rams Boys, Wolves, Cougars Girls Pull Non-Conference Wins
Boys basketball
| Tumwater 85, Yelm 54 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tumwater (3-6 overall) | 25 | 26 | 20 | 14 | 85 |
| Yelm (5-2 overall) | 12 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 54 |
| TUM leader: Josiah Warner – 20 points |
| North Thurston 71, River Ridge 58 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Ridge (4-5 overall) | 10 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 58 |
| North Thurston (3-6 overall) | 14 | 17 | 18 | 22 | 71 |
| Zillah 73, Capital 47 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zillah (8-0 overall) | 20 | 19 | 14 | 20 | 73 |
| Capital (1-8 overall) | 4 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 47 |
| Port Angeles 81, Black Hills 71 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Hills (4-6 overall) | 24 | 21 | 9 | 17 | 71 |
| Port Angeles (6-4 overall) | 16 | 21 | 23 | 21 | 81 |
Girls basketball
| Black Hills 66, Kingston 35 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Hills (7-1 overall) | 19 | 16 | 19 | 12 | 66 |
| Kingston (4-5 overall) | 4 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 35 |
| BH leader: Sarah McGee – 14 points |
| Capital 53, Washington 43 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital (4-6 overall) | 11 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 53 |
| Washington | 8 | 9 | 15 | 11 | 43 |
| CAP leader: Olivia Jackowich – 11 points |
| Olympic 50, Tumwater 40 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tumwater (2-6 overall) | 14 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 40 |
| Olympic (4-2 overall) | 10 | 14 | 16 | 10 | 50 |
| TUM leaders: Snyder, Bergquist – 12 points |
Women’s basketball
| Spokane CC 66, SPSCC 56 – Box score | |||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spokane CC (6-4 overall) | 36 | 30 | 66 |
| SPSCC (0-7 overall) | 19 | 37 | 56 |
| SPSCC leaders: Anger, Guerra – 12 points |
Early Saturday Score: Dorsey’s 26 Leads Blazers to Les Schwab Invite Win
Boys basketball
| Timberline 55, Beaverton 44 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaverton (2-4 overall) | 10 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 44 |
| Timberline (3-4 overall) | 9 | 11 | 17 | 18 | 55 |
| TIM leader: Donaven Dorsey – 26 points |
Donaven Dorsey scored 26 points with eight rebounds in Timberline’s 55-44 win over Beaverton in the 9:00 AM game of the Les Schwab Invitational in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The Beavers held a 24-20 halftime lead but the Blazers turned it up in the second half with 35 points including a reverse slam off of a steal by Dorsey to open the fourth quarter.
Timberline will next face Central Catholic at 11:30 on Sunday morning at Liberty High School in Hillsboro. The Rams knocked off South Eugene in the 10:30 game, 62-51.
Today (12/28): NT Holiday Invite Continues; Hawks Host Seahawks
Friday Scoreboard: Rams Rally to Top T-Birds: Hawks Ease Past Wolves
Boys basketball
| Jesuit 55, Timberline 41 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timberline (2-4 overall) | 9 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 41 |
| Jesuit (5-2 overall) | 16 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 55 |
| TIM leader: Donaven Dorsey – 16 points |
Timberline’s Donaven Dorsey struggled from the field shooting just 6-for-21 finishing with 16 points as Portland’s Jesuit led nearly the entire game in an easy 55-41 win at the elite Les Schwab Invitational in Hillsboro on Friday afternoon.
Dorsey collected seven rebounds and had five steals in the loss. Jack Nadelhoffer led the way for Jesuit with 22 points and pulled down 10 boards for Jesuit.
The Blazers will face Beaverton, who lost to Bishop Gorman today, at 9:00 AM on Saturday morning.
| North Thurston 55, Tumwater 44 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tumwater (2-6 overall) | 7 | 18 | 14 | 5 | 44 |
| North Thurston (2-6 overall) | 8 | 18 | 10 | 19 | 53 |
| TUM leader: David Cooper – 13 points NT leader: Steven Stone – 20 points |
North Thurston used a 19-5 fourth quarter to come back from a 39-36 deficit after three to pick up their second win of the season. Steven Stone scored 20 points and Wes Reynolds added 14 for the Rams.
| Yelm 83, River Ridge 62 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yelm (5-1 overall) | 13 | 19 | 27 | 24 | 83 |
| River Ridge (4-4 overall) | 12 | 22 | 15 | 13 | 62 |
| RR leader: Jason Kananin – 20 points |
Yelm exploded for 51 points in the second half and ran away from River Ridge, 83-62, behind Elijah Fuller’s 32 points and Christopher Burian’s 30 points. Yelm is now 5-1 overall this season. Jason Kananin scored 20 for the Hawks and Kobe Key added 12.
| Lakeside (9 Mile Falls) 70, Capital 52 | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital (1-7 overall) | 12 | 19 | 4 | 17 | 50 |
| Lakeside (6-1 overall) | 17 | 14 | 20 | 19 | 70 |
| Three River Christian 57 Northwest Christian 47 |
|||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three River Christian (5-1 overall) | 20 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 57 |
| Northwest Christian (4-4 overall) | 14 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 47 |
| NWC leader: Austin Koukal – 16 points |
Girls basketball
| River Ridge 59, South Kitsap 47 |
| RR: 6-1 overall, SK: 5-3 overall |
Today (12/27): North Thurston Holiday Invite; Hawks host South K
Schedule for Friday, December 27th
Boys basketball
River Ridge vs. Yelm – North Thurston HS – 5:15 PM
Tumwater @ North Thurston – North Thurston HS – 7:00 PM
Girls basketball
River Ridge vs. South Kitsap – River Ridge HS – 7:30 PM
Oly Sports Pictures of 2013
Senior Jayden Croft dives for a touchdown in Tumwater’s title game loss
From roller derby to a high school football state title game, from MMA fights to women’s soccer, I tried to get out and photograph local sporting events as much as I could in 2013. Considering I’m not a trained photographer, have less than professional equipment, don’t get paid and sometimes have small children in tow, I’d say I didn’t do too bad.
Above you see one picture from each photo gallery from 2013. You can see all of the photo galleries and pictures from this year and beyond by clicking here.
Merry Christmas!
I kind of love this silly graphic I made for the Tumwater Pioneers last year, so I decided to use it again this year despite the untimely demise of the Pios.
Merry Christmas from Oly Sports!
Oly Sports 