Boys' basketball: Chimacum in loser-out lane at district tourney

Posted

UPDATE 10:25 p.m. Feb. 16

The Chimacum boys are the last high school basketball team standing out of Jefferson County while Port Townsend is left wondering what might have been. Here’s the basketball wrap as of Feb. 15:

CHIMACUM

The Cowboys (9-12) lost to Cascade Christian (10-9) by a 57-48 score Feb. 16 at Sumner High School. Cascade Christian earns a trip to the regional tourney, and plays Seattle Christian (11-10), a surprise 64-61 winner over Vashon Island late Tuesday, for the district’s first- and second-place seeds at noon on Saturday, Feb. 20 at Foss High.

Chimacum drops into the consolation bracket and a 6 p.m. game Friday, Feb. 19 at Sumner against Vashon Island. That Friday game’s winner is the district’s third-seeded team to regionals, which starts Feb. 26 or Feb. 27.

Vashon (16-5) had defeated Seattle Christian twice this season in league play, 57-52 on Jan. 1 and 59-45 on Jan. 26. The Pirates had lost 47-41 on Feb. 5, but still won the Nisqually League championship (7-1) and were ranked No. 8 among the state 1A boys’ teams.

PORT TOWNSEND

Port Townsend’s season (9-12) ended Feb. 13 with a 53-48 loss to visiting Seattle Christian in a district loser-out game. The Redhawks started with a 10-0 run and led 26-19 at half, sparked by Detrius Kelsall’s 13 points. The game got tight in the second half when Seattle Christian started on an 8-0 run. PT led 45-41 with 2:57 to play but the Warriors went on a 9-0 run to effectively ice the game.

“They came out in second half and we turned it over a few times and they scored,” said coach Tom Webster. “They did a good job of scrambling around and they knocked down some big shots.”

Townsend had two more shots at the lead. Trailing 47-45 and with possession, PT missed a trey with just more than 1 minute remaining. Seattle Christian answered quickly with a trey to make it 50-45 with 59 seconds left. The Redhawks missed a field goal attempt, and after a missed Warrior free throw, Kelsall drained a trey (his only points of the second half) to pull PT to within 50-48 with 40 seconds. The Redhawks then forced a jump ball on the inbounds play, but the possession arrow was in SC’s favor. Townsend fouled on the ensuing possession, and SC missed the front end of a one-and-one charity shot. Townsend missed a field goal, SC rebounded, was fouled and made 1 free throw to make it 51-48. PT missed a field goal; SC rebounded, was fouled, and made 2 free throws with 3.6 seconds left to make the final 53-48.

“We had our chances,” Webster said. “We were down by 2 with 37 seconds, we defended hard, we were in a position to win the game, but we didn’t.”

In the fourth quarter, Webster said the Warriors made 5 treys (3 by senior Taggart Anderson, who finished with 20 points) while PT made 4 treys (2 by senior Jacob Ralls).

For the game, PT was 3/13 from the free throw line (0/5 in the second half) while Seattle Christian was 9/13. Webster noted that on Saturday morning, before the game, each of his varsity players shot 60-70 free throws at a mini-practice.

SCORING: Detrius Kelsall 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists; Jacob Ralls 13P, 6RB, 2A; Kaiden Parcher 8, Seren Dances 6P, 6RB; Berkley Hill 3, 4RB, 3A; Patrick Charlton 2.

For the season, Webster noted how the team progressed from 3-6 in league last season to 7-2 this season. The team’s seniors are Jacob Ralls, David Sua, Jack Pickard, Patrick Charlton, and Cody Morgan-Erfle.

The junior varsity team, coached this season by Ahmad Baabahar, went 7-2 in league with a team of mostly freshmen.

“It’s not easy playing for me,” Webster said. “It’s hard. We had six days a week in the gym, we’ve got film, we’ve got classroom, and we’ve got off-the-court stuff. It’s be committed to the process, love the grind and win everyday. That’s what our kids did.”

Finally, Webster thanks the fans who turned out this season, especially for the last two home games when Bruce Blevins Gym was full.

“Bruce Blevins would have been proud of our players and our fans,” Webster said. “There were a lot of Redskin fans and a lot of Redhawk fans supporting our teams.”