Boys basketball: Wolves take games over PA, NK to stay undefeated

With dominating wins over rival Port Angeles and former Olympic League powerhouse North Kitsap, Sequim’s boys basketball team is undefeated (6-0, 10-0) on the season going into the week.

On Friday, the Wolves continued to put their stamp on the 2024-25 season after crushing a dangerous Vikings team 74-46.

The North Kitsap boys basketball team has been beating up on the rest of the Olympic League for a long time, but it appears now it’s Sequim’s turn to be the big dog in the league.

The Wolves got up 40-15 midway through the second quarter and the game was never remotely close after that. And again, for the 10th straight game, the Wolves did not allow their opponent to score 50 points.

Jericho Julmist led the team with 27 points.

“Julmist played great in the first half. Both on offense and defense,” said coach Craig Brooks.

Charlie Grider had 10, Mason Rapelje nine and Hunter Tennell eight as the Wolves again had balance with eight players scoring at least four points.

Rivalry game

The Sequim boys basketball team had won every game this season relatively easily, with an average margin of victory of 26.7 points coming to its matchup against rival Port Angeles on Jan. 7.

Afterward, the Wolves remained one of the top Class 2A teams in the state, but they were seriously tested in earning their 56-43 win. The Roughriders held a brief lead in the third quarter and were down just one possession with less than five minutes left to play.

Sequim made clutch plays down the stretch in a raucous and packed Rider gym and pulled out a hard-fought victory that was closer than the final score showed.

In their 9-0 start, the Wolves have yet to allow their opponent to score 50 points.

“It was a pretty good game for us defensively,” Brooks said.

“That was our toughest game, but we knew Port Angeles would be ready for us. Our guys came through at the end. That fourth quarter, we played well.”

“We played through it. I think it was good for us,” said Sequim’s Jericho Julmist.

“The atmosphere was one-sided, but once we got used to it, it took a second for us to get rolling.”

The game featured some spectacular plays from both teams.

Port Angeles’ Matthew Miller, at 6-foot-0, made what could have been the play of the game when he blocked a layup attempt above the rim against 6-foot-3 Solomon Sheppard, who can easily dunk, on a fast break.

But moments later, after Miller made a nice drive to the hoop to score with a few seconds left in the first half to cut a Sequim lead down to 28-25, Julmist made the shot of the game with a 60-foot heave at the first-half buzzer that touched nothing but net.

Sequim had control much of the game but couldn’t shake the Riders until the last couple of minutes. The Wolves were able to build up a lead of 26-12, but the Riders went on a 13-2 run to make it close before Julmist’s bomb from three-quarters court.

Despite Julmist’s shot, Port Angeles regained the momentum early in the second half, holding Sequim scoreless for four minutes of clock. A Hunter Flores 3-pointer gave the Riders a brief 33-31 lead at 4:20 in the third. The game remained close most of the second half.

After a Rapelje bucket gave Sequim a lead at 42-36 with 5:30 left in the game, the Riders called timeout, and out of the timeout, they ran a play to open up Gus Halberg beyond the arc, who drilled a 3-pointer to make it 42-39.

That was the closest Port Angeles would get as the Wolves responded with a Julmist 3-pointer and a Sheppard 3-pointer to get the lead right back to 48-39. After a Zeke Schmadeke steal and basket, Sequim built the lead to 52-41 with a couple of minutes left and was able to cruise.

Sheppard finished with 19 points and Julmist 16. Rapelje had 11.

Coming up

Sequim was set to travel to play Bremerton (5-1 6-3) on Tuesday, Jan. 14 after the press deadline. They host Kingston at 7 p.m. Jan. 17.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Charlie Grider goes up for a shot of North Kitsap players on Jan. 10. He scored 10 points in the 74-46 win.