Boys basketball: Wolves topple Kingston on Senior Night

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

Senior Lars Wiker and freshman Jericho Julmist paced a balanced scoring attack with 10 points apiece as the Wolves (4-8 in Olympic League, 9-10 overall) 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 led 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 Tuesday, 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. They key for the ninth-grader, he said, is “time om 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.”

Sequim is at Olympic tonight (Thursday, Feb. 1), looking to clinch the fourth and final Olympic League sport at districts.

“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.”

The Wolves finish the regular season at Port Angeles on Feb. 6; the boys play at 5:15 p.m. followed by the girls’ game.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim's Jamison Gray, center, takes a jumper over Kingston's Dae'veon Swan in the fourth quarter of a 63-50 SHS victory on Jan. 26.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim's Solomon Sheppard, left, and Jericho Julmist, right guard Kingston's Jace Brady in a 63-50 Wolves win on Jan. 26.
tsr
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim's Solomon Sheppard, right, looks to drive past Kingston's Ibrahim Trawally in the fourth quarter of a 63-50 Wolves win on Jan. 26.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / With Sequim coach Craig Brooks, right, looking on, Sequim's Lars Wiker takes a jump shot over Kingston's Dae'veon Swan in the Wolves' 63-50 win over the Buccaneers on Jan. 26.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim's Solomon Sheppard, center, passes to teammate Garrett Little as Kingston's xxxxxx (1) guards the play in a 63-50 win over the Buccaneers on Jan. 26.