A pair of losses to league foes last week has dropped Sequim to 3-8 in Olympic League play (7-9 overall) and into a tie for fifth place with North Mason with three games remaining in the regular season.
The Wolves wrapped up the most difficult stretch of its schedule with a 92-44 road loss to North Kitsap, one of the top 2A teams in the state, on Jan. 23.
Mason Rapelje led the Wolves with nine points, while Solomon Sheppard had seven. Keenan Green, Lars Wiker and Charlie Grider all scored five.
The defeat came at the end of four consecutive games against the top teams in the Olympic League — Port Angeles,
Bremerton, Bainbridge and North Kitsap, with three of those teams ranked in the top 13 in the state.
Comeback falls short
Despite a big game from Green and a wild fourth-quarter comeback, the Sequim boys basketball team were just nipped on the road by North Mason, 64-61, on Jan. 26.
The Wolves were down big in the fourth quarter at 61-49, but rallied at the four-minute mark, nearly pulling off a miracle win. They went on a 7-1 run to cut it to 62-56, then a clutch 3-pointer by Sheppard at the 1:01 mark brought the Wolves to within one possession at 62-59.
Zeke Schmadeke stole a pass with 30 seconds left and Sheppard drove to the basket and was fouled, nearly making a circus shot as he was falling onto his back. He hit a pair of free throws with 22 seconds left to make the score 62-61.
Sequim nearly stole the inbound pass, but North Mason was able to gather the ball and drew a foul, making one free throw. The Wolves had a crack for a potential game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds left, but a Rapelje shot rimmed out.
Green hit six 3-pointers and scored 21 points for the Wolves. Sheppard added 16 and Grider had 12. Rapelje scored eight.
Looking ahead
The Wolves were scheduled to host Kingston on Senior Night on Jan. 30; details were not available at press time.
Sequim is at Olympic on Feb. 1 and finishes the regular season at a boys-girls doubleheader at Port Angeles on Feb. 6.
The West Central District tournament is set for Feb. 13-17 at varying locations, with the championship game set for Feb. 17 at Tacoma Community College. Six of the 16 competing teams at district move on to the class 2A state tournament.