Three times this season, Sequim’s boys basketball squad had a chance to knock off their rivals — with even more on the line this past Friday night.
But for the third time Port Angeles had the answers in the end, sinking clutch free throws in the fourth quarter to knock off the Wolves 50-40 in the 2A West Central District tournament, loser-out contest on Feb. 15.
Liam Clark had 16 points, Gary Johnson hit four clutch 3-pointers for 14 points and Kyle Benedict went 8-for-8 from the line as the Roughriders remained alive in the district tourney.
“We had a stretch there where we had some great looks (that didn’t fall),” Sequim coach Greg Glasser said. That was the difference.”
(The Roughriders were eliminated from postseason play after dropping a 51-48 decision to Olympic on Feb. 16, and finished with an 18-6 record.)
In his final game for Sequim (12-10) senior guard Nate Despain had 18 points and six rebounds to lead the Wolves, who held a 32-30 lead late in the third quarter following a Despain 3-pointer.
But Benedict, who was just 1-for-9 from the field, sank a triple to close the third, as Port Angeles went on an 11-0 run over the next six minutes.
Erik Christiansen bolstered Despain’s performance with 16 points, sinking four 3-pointers in the process. The rest of the Wolves struggled, though, going 0-for-12 and getting six points on free throws — three apiece from Dallin Despain and Kyler Rollness.
Clark led the Riders with eight rebounds and four steals. Undersized against the Roughriders, Sequim defenders looked to keep Rider posts like the 6-foot-6 Clark in check.
“They did everything we asked them to,” Glasser said of Sequim’s post defenders. “I’m so proud of our guys.”
Port Angeles, playing their second game in as many nights, hit 16-of-21 from the free throw line and forced 17 Sequim turnovers.
“We come into any game thinking we can beat anyone,” Rollness said. “They just pulled away at the end.”
First half streaks, see-saw second
Both teams had big runs in the first half. The Roughriders went on a 9-0 first quarter run to lead 12-4, but after a quick timeout the Wolves went on a 12-0 run of their own to lead 16-12. The Riders pulled ahead once again in the second quarter and led 24-21 at halftime.
“We came into the locker room and said, ‘We’ve got to come out and give them the first punch,” Despain said.
Christiansen hit a pair of 3-pointers to open the scoring in the second half, giving Sequim back the lead.
Despain’s triple near the end of the third had Sequim up 32-30. The Wolves missed their next 12 shots from the field. Christiansen ended the drought with a 3-pointer with 50.7 seconds left, closing the gap to 43-38. Benedict and Clark closed the proverbial door from there with free throws.
“We were there the whole game,” Despain said.
Rival fortunes
With the ninth seed in the district tourney, Sequim dropped its district opener 71-45 to Renton on Feb. 6, then had to wait for their second game for nine days when inclement weather postponed a slew of district tourney games.
Port Angeles, the top seed from the Olympic League and No. 2 seed overall, played seventh-seeded Fife on Feb. 14 and was upset 54-50 by the Trojans.
The Roughriders had reportedly offered to host the playoff game at 8:30 p.m. Friday night, but instead a coin toss decided the home venue and Sequim won the toss.
On Jan. 8 the Riders , roughed up the Wolves 74-29 in Port Angeles. On Jan. 31 — the regular season finale for both teams — Sequim held a lead at halftime but Port Angeles recovered for a 63-48 victory.
A dozen wins
Sequim started the season 5-1 and finished 12-10 — the most wins for the program since the 2014-2015 season.
“I think our boys over-achieved,” Glasser said. “You hope (as a coach) that you can bring a group of kids further than people think they can go.”
It also sees the Wolves pick up back-to-back postseason berths.
“This was my favorite year so far,” said Despain, who led the Wolves in scoring in 15 of their 22 games.
Despain said he’s planning to play basketball in college and is looking at several different schools.
“We’re like brothers,” he said. “To close it out with guys I’ve played with since I moved here in seventh grade … I’ll definitely miss it a lot.”
Rollness, also a senior, said the Wolves became much like family through preparation.
“I had fun the whole season,” he said. “We went hard (at practice) … and made each other better on and off the court.”
The Wolves saw seven seniors play their final game on Feb. 15: Despain, Rollness, Riley Cowan, Rigo Langston, Joey Oliver, Keeshawn Whitney and Blake Wiker.
