Boys basketball: Wolves clinch district playoff berth with wins

A trio of Sequim High seniors got a chance to enjoy their final home game with a league victory, while a SHS freshman made his impressive prep debut.

And with a pair of Olympic League wins last week, the Wolves (5-8 in Olympic League, 10-10 overall as of Feb. 5) have earned a postseason berth.

Senior Lars Wiker and freshman Jericho Julmist paced a balanced scoring attack with 10 points apiece as Sequim knocked off visiting Kingston 63-50 on Jan. 30.

“They played together and played with a lot of energy; they really attacked the basket,” Sequim coach Craig Brooks said of his squad, which had six players score at least eight points.

The Wolves led 17-12 after the first quarter and 31-21 by halftime, gaining a comfortable lead until Kingston closed the gap in the fourth frame with a series of 3-pointers.

Keenan Green, who along with Wiker and Garrett Little were celebrated on Senior Night, sank a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points in his final regular season home game.

“Honestly it went by fast,” Green said of his prep basketball years.

He said his top moment on the squad was last season’s back-to-back upending of Port Angeles and district home playoff win over Lindbergh.

On Jan. 30, he said the Wolves were playing well together.

“That four-game stretch was really tough for us,” Green said, “[but tonight] we were pressing the whole game, I was feeding the ball to guys. I hardly had to do anything.”

Brooks pulled his seniors for recognition with a couple of minutes on the clock and was able to feature a young lineup of a junior, two sophomore and two freshman — including Julmist, who had missed each game this season with a preseason leg injury.

“Jericho looked good,” Brooks said. The key for the ninth-grader, the Sequim coach said, is “time on the court, getting used to the guys” and “getting his conditioning back.”

Sophomore Solomon Sheppard and freshman Mason Rapelje had nine points each while junior Charlie Grider added eight.

“They’re going to be very good,” Green said of the young group of Wolves. “They’re young so it’s going to be challenging for them.”

Wolves win at Olympic, look ahead

The Wolves added a 78-52 win on the road at Olympic on Feb. 1, sinking 11 3-pointers in the process.

Green led the way for the Wolves with 21 points, with 12 of those points on long-range bombs. Rapelje hit a pair from downtown and scored 15 points, while Little made three 3-pointers for nine points. Grider and Julmist each scored eight.

“We’ve got to focus on continuing our goals: get better shots, get [a] better shot selection,” Brooks said.

“I feel like we still haven’t hit our stride. We’ve got a lot of good shooters. Once that clicks it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Sequim was slated to finish the regular season 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.