Sequim girls top Renton, fall to Fife in sub-districts

By MICHAEL DASHIELL

Sequim Gazette

Their steam may have run out a bit against Fife, but the Wolves got the win they needed.

Lea Hopson scored 16 points and Rylleigh Zbaraschuk added 14 as Sequim topped Renton 49-39 on Feb. 11, securing a spot in the West Central District playoffs.

Sequim’s Rylleigh Zbaraschuk outraces North Kitsap’s Kristin Brown to the hoop in the second half of their teams’ Jan. 28 league showdown. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell

A loss to Fife on Feb. 12 dropped Sequim to the district’s No. 11 seed. They play sixth-seeded Olympic on Feb. 15 at Foss High School in Tacoma.

A regular league foe, Olympic swept the two-game season series against the Wolves. The Trojans triumphed 50-42 in Sequim on Dec. 3 and 46-26 in Silverdale on Jan. 6.

The winner of that game takes on No. 3-seeded Port Angeles on Feb. 17 while the losing team draws the loser of the Kingston-Clover Park/Franklin Pierce (No. 7-10 game) on Feb. 19.

It looked as if Sequim might not make it into the 12-team, double-elimination district tourney after dropping six of their final seven games in the regular season and having two of their top guards — Hopson and Taylor Balkan — hobbled with injuries.

But the team responded in the loser-out game against Renton on Friday night, holding a 20-18 lead at halftime and widening that lead with a 20-7 third quarter.

The Wolves got points from seven players.

Taylor Farris led Renton with 14 points.

Two days later in the No. 9/No. 11 seed game, Sequim and Fife battled to a 54-54 tie late until the Trojans pulled away with the game’s final nine points to win, 63-54.

Hopson led Sequim with 20 points while Haleigh Harrison added 15 points.

Riders dominate in league final

For 16 minutes in Tuesday night’s Olympic League finale, Sequim’s Wolves gave their rivals from Port Angeles quite a fight.

In the second half, it was business as usual for the Roughriders.

Port Angeles completed a second consecutive undefeated league season with an 84-28 win against the visiting Wolves.

On Feb. 8, Port Angeles’ Jessica Madison tallied 23 points, seven rebounds, six steals and five assists, while teammate Kiah Jones added 17 points and nine rebounds, giving the Riders their second big win against Sequim this season.

Haleigh Harrison led Sequim with 10 points and six rebounds and Columbia Haupt chipped in with seven points.

“This was more of a practice game for us,” Sequim coach Stephanie Lewis said, noting that the Wolves already had their playoff fate set prior to tip-off. “We executed in the first half.”

After falling behind 15-4 after one quarter, Sequim kept pace with the Riders in the second quarter by matching P.A.’s 17 points and trailed 32-21 at halftime.

Defensively, the Wolves keyed in on Madison — the Riders’ all-time leading scorer — using quick-handed guards Rylleigh Zbaraschuk and Lea Hopson to defuse P.A.’s top scorer in the first half; Madison had nine points at halftime.

But following a pair of jumpers from Harrison early in the second half, the Roughriders simply dominated the Wolves, outscoring Sequim 47-3 over the final 14 minutes.

Sequim earned just five free throw chances all evening and committed 24 turnovers.

“I don’t know what team showed up in the second half,” Lewis said.

Earlier this season, the Roughriders beat Sequim, 68-21.

Port Angeles now has 36 consecutive league victories dating back to the 2008-2009 season.

Olympic League standings (final)

Team Lg. Over.

Pt. Angeles 16-0 17-3

Kingston 14-2 17-3

Olympic 11-5 12-8

Pt. Townsend 7-9 9-11

Sequim 7-9 10-11

Bremerton 6-10 8-12