In the final game on their home court, Sequim High seniors made sure it wasn’t the final one of their season.
Shrugging a off a cold first half shooting from beyond the arc, the 11th-seeded Wolves started to find their range and held off a pesky 14th-seeded Evergreen (Seattle) squad 73-61 to advance in the West Central District tournament on Feb. 13.
Keenan Green paced Sequim with 21 points, including three key second half 3-pointers, and fellow senior Lars Wiker buried a timely 3-pointer late in the third quarter to put the Wolves into the consolation semifinals, two wins from a state 2A tourney berth.
Sequim travels to Franklin Pierce to take on the sixth-seeded Cardinals at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15. Franklin Pierce lost to third-seeded Renton 78-47 on Feb. 13.
The Wolves would need to win that game and the winner of Thursdays’ White River/Lindbergh game on Feb. 17 (at Foster High School) to earn a state berth.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell/ Sequim’s Charlie Grider, right, blocks a shot by Evergreen’s Mohamed Abdi in the second half of the Wolves’ 73-61 bi-district tournament win in Sequim on Feb. 13.
“At this point in the year, we were able to come together [for the win],” Sequim coach Craig Brooks said, crediting the team’s leaders and some late lock-down defense for pulling out a win in a game full of runs.
Sequim was active in the first half, pressing the Wolverines into multiple turnovers, working the offensive glass and beating Evergreen down court for easy baskets. The Wolves also took advantage of Wolverine star Matthew Fiso getting into early foul trouble.
But the Wolverines, thanks to Sequim’s frigid start from the outside (the Wolves didn’t sink a 3-pointer in the first half) and some timely shots from Amen Hassan, turned the Wolves’ 22-16 first quarter lead into a 31-30 Evergreen advantage by halftime.
“In the first quarter, we executed really well,,” said junior Charlie Grider, who had 11 points,three blocks and a team-high 16 rebounds. “I think we just got too comfortable with our lead.”
The Wolverines surged ahead further in the start of the third quarter, taking a 40-34 lead on a Fiso bucket.
That’s when the SHS shots started to fall. Mason Rapelje’s 3-pointer with 4:30 in the third period sparked a 13-0 SHS run that included three triples from Green.
“Normally we’re a good three-point shooting team,” Grider said. “We just had to not let that [Evergreen run] get us down.”
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Solomon Sheppard, center, defends Evergreen’s Miguel Delgado in the first half of the Wolves’ 73-61 bi-district tournament win on Feb. 13. Looking on is Sequim’s Keenan Green.
Sequim sophomore Solomon Sheppard fueled the defensive effort with key steals and halfcourt pressure; he finished with 16 points and five rebounds.
Fiso looked to keep Evergreen close, but wound up scoring 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, when Evergreen had to foul.
“He was hard to stay in front of,” Brooks said off the Evergreen senior.
In the waning moments, Green who paced Sequim with five assists — sank six of eight free throws, clinching the Sequim victory.
In other district tourney action on Feb. 13, fourth-seeded Port Angeles lost to No. 5 seed Sammamish 65-57 and now needs two wins to advance to the state tourney.
Top-seeded North Kitsap topped No. 8 seed Foss 80-73, and in a surprise upset Bremerton, seeded seventh, topped second seed White River 66-47. North Kitsap and Bremerton both clinched state berths with their victories.
